By Jenna McElroy and Donna McCarty
We are excited to share that the Circle City Peregrine Falcon nest box camera on top of Market Tower is available now to view!
https://zeller.us/markettower/falcon-cam/
“The peregrine falcon nest box camera is sponsored by Market Tower and the Amos Bulter Audubon Society. The Indiana DNR maintains the nest box. Depending on time and resources, the Indiana DNR may band peregrine falcon chicks to keep track of peregrine falcon movements and better understand survival.”
Watch this cool video of the DNR Fish & Wildlife Ornithology Team installing the new Market Tower nest box! If you look up at Market Tower towards the red key, you might be able to see the nest box to the left of the red key.
Peregrines were extirpated (locally extinct) in the Eastern US in 1965 due to widespread use of the pesticide DDT. After DDT was banned, reintroduction efforts began, with great success in urban areas with skyscrapers! These nest boxes installed on tall buildings mimic the Peregrine’s natural cliff-dwelling habits. You can learn more about the DNR’s efforts to protect the Peregrines in Indiana here.
There is also a Peregrine nest with a camera at the AES Harding Street Station: https://www.aesindiana.com/peregrine-falcons
DISCLAIMER: These cameras are a live feed of Peregrine Falcons. Natural events may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised. Additionally, some falcon chicks may not survive due to weather extremes or limited food availability. The Indiana DNR will not intervene with routine natural events.
Have you ever seen a Peregrine Falcon in the wild? Want to see one up close? The Eagle Creek Park Ornithology Center has a Peregrine Falcon ambassador named Freyja, who has a permanently disabled right wing. Her aviary is not viewable to the public, but you can meet her during her regularly scheduled free, public programs on Fridays at 2:00 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm. Read more about Freyja below!
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It’s All About the Chicken – by Donna McCarty
I first met my program partner, Freyja, when she arrived at the Eagle Creek Park Ornithology Center in 2018. The Ornithology Center (OC) staff had seen a video posted by a rehab facility in Cincinnati, Ohio of this young Peregrine Falcon with a permanent wing injury. She was already willing to get on a glove so they couldn’t resist this opportunity to add her to the center’s other ambassador raptors. My first impression was that she was a lot bigger than I expected, especially compared to the center’s diminutive American Kestrel.
OC manager, Jenna McElroy, immediately began training which has resulted in making her the rock-star performer she is today. She has done programs for hundreds of OC visitors, been featured on the Indy Now program and was recently at an ABAS monthly program. Due to her incredibly ravenous appetite, she is a willing student. This bird will work for food! She will eat almost any piece of raw meat, but her favorite is chicken chicks, which are supplied frozen in bags and then thawed out before feeding. In addition to getting on glove, she will go to her perch, get in a crate and remove her own jesses — all for a food reward.
I had previous experience working with a few of the other center’s raptors including a Barred Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl and American Kestrel. Decisions were made by staff for good reasons to retire these raptors from doing programs. While I was disappointed, I completely understood. Then one day Jenna asked me if I would want to start working with the Peregrine Falcon. Are you kidding me? This was one of the best offers I’ve ever had! Since Jenna already had Freyja well-trained, she began training me. By mid-2019 I was doing presentations with this magnificent bird. What a thrill it is to walk out a door to a waiting audience with a Peregrine Falcon on your arm. We were getting our routine down and everything was running smoothly when bam, in early 2020, the pandemic hit. The OC was closed for three months with only staff allowed to enter the buildings to care for the birds. By the time I was allowed to return I had been totally forgotten by my program partner and had to start back at ground zero in order to rebuild our trust bond.
Our partnership is now back on track and I have a willing program partner for the OC Falcon Fridays (2 pm) and Meet a Raptor (Sundays, 2:30). I am typically greeted with an excited series of honks, snorts and quacks when I enter her enclosure with a “bucket of chicken.” Every program day she plows through a container of at least four chicken chicks in about 15-20 minutes. She weighs about 900 grams (2 lbs.) and her food weighs about 140 grams representing approximately 15% of her body weight. I have had audience members comment about how she must really like me because of the way she looks at me as if she adores me. I feel obligated to correct their perception by explaining what she really likes is my feeding her. The truth is, it’s all about the chicken.
Ornithology Center Address: 6515 Delong Rd. Indianapolis, IN 46278
Phone: (317) 327-BIRD
Building Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 1pm-5pm, Closed Mondays
Free with park admission ($6-7/car)
