Meet Mayo Clinic's class of 2023 peregrine falcon chicks
May 19—ROCHESTER — While the Mayo Clinic peregrine falcons haven't survived living on a mountain, the generations of chicks have adapted to downtown Rochester life with their parents.
When Jackie Fallon read "My Side of the Mountain" in fourth grade, which shares about a boy and a falcon surviving their mountain journey, she immediately fell in love with the raptors. After growing up on the Iron Range, she went on to study conservation biology and now bands peregrine falcons across Minnesota and coordinates with other states involved in the Midwest Peregrine Society.
"From that time, their speed, the grace, the look. Who knows what fascinates a kid," Fallon said. "But I have loved or been an admirer of falcons since I was in elementary school."
She started with the Mayo Clinic partnership 37 years ago and even banded Hattie and Orton, who have lived atop the Mayo Clinic building since 2017. The banding allows biologists to identify the birds as well as information on where they travel, their lifespan, their mate and how many chicks they have. The bands will stay on the falcons' feet for the rest of their lives.
The four healthy chicks, or the class of 2023, were banded on Friday in the David Geffen Auditorium on a quick visit outside the nesting box. The chicks also had a short exam, including Avian influenza testing, and then were introduced as Piper, Aero, Horus and Genesis, two females and two males.
"They're going to stick around Rochester for about six to eight weeks fine tuning their hunting style and then they disperse and start their first migrations somewhere," Fallon said of the fledglings. "I couldn't predict where they're going to go but hopefully they'll survive their first difficult year and end up on territory having babies of their own that I'll get to find and band. That's my goal."
Fallon said the Midwest Peregrine Society has banded 1,100 peregrine falcons in the decades of banding the birds. As one of the longest partnerships, Mayo Clinic is early in the banding program of more than 50 sites in the region.
"Since I've been involved, I just love the patients that stop and see it and kind of a little break from their day. So for me to have connection is really neat," said Tom Behrens, Mayo Clinic unit head of facilities operations who "inherited" the program in 1992. "It's just amazing how nature every year just does its thing. It's pretty exciting. Even after 31 years, it's still a pretty fun day for me."
This year's batch of chicks entered the world between a moody swing of temperatures with cold continuing its reign until hot days splayed the chicks in their nesting box atop the Mayo Clinic Building. Fallon noted the chick's position, sprawled out on their stomachs, is
a way for the chicks to cool down.
While examining and banding the chicks, Fallon noted the weight and pitch of their squawks are clues to the sex. The weight difference between the two females was a stick of butter. Fallon said female raptors are larger, including Hattie who is about twice the size of Orton.
The
first three chicks
were born on April 29 and the
fourth followed on May 1.
As of Friday, the chicks have reached about 80% of their adult size and will become cream and brown-colored by their first flight in three weeks. The hope is to help them survive their training and journey in the first year of life as three out of four chicks do not survive their first year, Fallon said.
"They're just fascinating. It just seems like you got the fastest animal in the world and people all of a sudden just get mesmerized," Behrens said.
While the chicks turned fledglings enjoy wandering out to other areas and states, Hattie and Orton live in Rochester year-round. Fallon said her Rochester visits "always" include falcon watching.
"I always have to drive by or stop real quick and see if I can find them on the corner. Or they like to spend time on the Siebens building as well as Mayo, Plummer and Gonda," Fallon said of Hattie and Orton. "I'm always looking for falcons."
