Peregrine falcon chicks offer field learning experience

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) - Kate Elliott, a fourth-grader at Mount Tabor Elementary, learned a lot about peregrine falcons while studying them in class.

"I didn't know that they were the fastest diving bird (before)," she said. (Peregrine falcons can dive up to 200 miles per hour).

On Monday, Elliott got to see the speedy bird in person on a class trip to New Albany's Duke Energy Gallagher Power Plant.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources retrieved three male peregrine falcon babies from their nesting box on one of the plant's towers and tagged them with identifying leg bands.

The nest has been there for almost 20 years - although no falcons used it until 2009, said John Castrale, a retired DNR bird biologist who assisted with the banding on Monday. The nest's existence on the tower is no coincidence.

The DNR helped place the box there as part of an attempt to restore nesting locations for the once-endangered bird. Peregrine falcons historically nested on the sides of cliffs and other naturally high places.

The bird disappeared from all states east of the Mississippi River in the 1960s, partly due to the use of the pesticide DDT, which broke falcon eggs.

In the late 1970s and early '80s, scientists banded together to bring back the peregrine falcon by introducing birds bred in captivity to the wild.

Forty or so years later, and there are 15 peregrine falcon nests in Indiana.

Duke Energy's is revisited each year by what Castrale thinks is the same pair of falcons: Isis, a Louisville-born female, and an unidentified male.

The couple have parented around 20 chicks, including the ones born this year.

Two years ago, Duke Energy began inviting Mount Tabor children to the plant to name the falcons. This year, they chose Israel, Phoenix and Sage as names for the chicks, now about 26-28 weeks old.

But the trip is about more than the name reveal, according to Scott Burch, a science teacher at Mount Tabor. His students learned about peregrine falcons by watching videos prior to their visit but - "to actually be able to get up close and personal to see the life cycle and to learn about the life cycle, that's pretty amazing," he said.

Castrale agrees.

"Not many people get to see peregrine falcon chicks up close and experience it," he said.

Students also learn about conservation when meeting the falcons. As someone who devoted part of his career to bringing back the bird, Castrale is sensitive to this.

"We have an obligation to preserve biodiversity in the world, and as a top predator, this is an important species because it impacts other populations of other birds," he said.

And?

"It's just an enjoyable bird for people to experience," he said.

It is the fastest winged diver in the world after all.

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Source: News and Tribune, http://bit.ly/2q3W2cx

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Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com