Falcon Cam
| The Evanston Public Library FalconCam The falcons have been spotted again this year in the nesting area at the library. It appears to be the same pair (Nona and Squawker) that nested here the last four years. There is an Evanston Peregrine Falcon Watch for posting and sharing news and observations of the Evanston Peregrine Falcons. There is also a Facebook fan page: | |
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Live FalconCam Image: |
2011 Saved Images: 2010 Saved Images:
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Update — 5/31/2011 The names of the eyases (EYE-ah-sez) are: Wilbur - named after Wilbur, the runt pig in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. The runt of the litter, Wilbur is saved from a terrible fate by his friend Charlotte the spider. Lincoln - named after Abraham Lincoln, a famous Illinois resident and our 16th president. He led the nation through Civil War and brought an end to slavery in the United States. Dewey - named after Melvil Dewey, American librarian and reformer. Dewey established the Dewey decimal system of classifying books and played a prominent role in developing professional institutions for librarians. Rosalind - the central character of Shakespeare's As You Like It. Some critics call Rosalind one of the most complex, fully realized Shakespearean characters. As an added bonus, there is a falcon reference in As You Like It (Act 3, Scene 3 - Touchstone: "As the ox hath his bow, sir, the horse his curb and the falcon her bells, so man hath his desires; and as pigeons bill, so wedlock would be nibbling.") A quick video of the return to the pillar cap after the banding. |
Update — 5/13/2011 The banding of the peregrine falcons will take place on Tuesday, May 31st at 11 am on the 3rd floor of the Library. Mary Hennen from the Field Museum and Matt Gies from the Shedd Aquarium will be here to band the birds and take blood samples (for genetic testing purposes). Also, Mary will clean the window so that we have a better view from the falcon cam. |
Update — 5/9/2011 Fourth egg hatched sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday. Monday morning feeding of all four chicks. |
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Update — 5/6/2011 Three chicks seen (despite the very dirty window)! | |
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Update — 5/5/2011 One of the 2009 offspring of Nona and Squawker, Deborah, is nesting in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Check out the terrific web camera. | |
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Update — 4/5/2011 Four eggs! | |
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Update — 4/4/2011 Third egg spotted on Saturday, 4/2. | |
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Update — 4/1/2011 Second egg seen this morning as we were installing the camera in the new nest location. | |
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Update — 3/29/2011 First egg seen this morning. It was found in a new nest at the top of what has been labelled "Pillar 6". Camera will be down a couple of days while we get the parts to relocate the equipment. | |
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Update — 3/25/2011 Nona and Squawker are back. There has been much mating activity around the scrape. | |
Falcons at the LibraryPeregrine Falcons nested on the Library for the first time in the summer of 2004. That year there were four eggs, but shortly after the eggs hatched the female broke her wing leaving the male to raise the chicks on his own. Only one chick successfully fledged, the other three succumbed to malnourishment and disease. The female with the broken wing received veterinary treatment and now appears in nature education programs. In 2005 the same male returned to the Library with a new mate and three chicks fledged successfully. In the fall of 2005 the male broke his wing; despite treatment the wing did not heal and he had to be euthanized. 2005 marked the debut of the FalconCam. The Evanston Review had an article about the falcons: "Falcon family thrills a rapt library crowd" (Evanston Review, June 30, 2005) 2006 was another good year. Four eggs were laid in mid April, three chicks hatched in mid May and all three fledged successfully between June 27 and 29. For a short while they were seen around Evanston, but they soon dispersed, and their current whereabouts are unknown. On Monday June 12, 2006 staff and volunteers from the Field Museum banded and took blood samples from the chicks, and they posed for a photograph. One of the three chicks is female and two are male. They were named:
![]() In 2007, there were four chicks, three males and one female. The birds were named:
In 2008, there was one male and three females [Correction: Mistress Hussey turned out to be male, so there were actually 2 males and 2 females. He was presumed female at the time of banding because there was some doubt as to gender, and Mary Hennen of the Field Museum always errs on the side of female to prevent any chance of a still growing leg becoming constricted by the smaller male band.] The chosen names were:
In 2009, The Library peregrine falcons were banded, sampled and named on May 27. Their names are:
In 2010, The Library peregrine falcons were banded, sampled and named on May 26. Their names are:
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