Falcons taking flying lessons downtown

The larger of the two birds is the female; the one doing all the fancy flying is the male.

Observers in the downtown area, however, will have a hard time telling the twin peregrine falcons, born on the ledges of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, apart.

Needed are a skilled eye and a powerful scope, both of which Bob Walters has, along with a keen knowledge of the falcon's habits and hours and hours spent watching the birds.

The young falcons, called "eyas," along with their mother, were spotted flying around the First Security Building in downtown Salt Lake City late Tuesday.

"The two young birds were chasing the adult female, which is common. They were looking for a meal," said Walters, watchable wildlife program coordinator for the state Division of Wildlife Resources. "She was playing very aloof. They were squawking and she was ignoring them, telling them that they've had enough for the day."

The adult female was on the building. One juvenile was in the alternative box set up on the building and the second was on top of the box.

After awhile, the bird on top of the box flew off and landed on a nearby fire escape — it was the male.

"It was nice because I was able to see three birds, all in the same area. In conversation with the people who were passing by, I was able to show three of the four members of the family," he said.

By 9:15 p.m., the three had flown off to "who knows where" to roost for the night.

The male was the first to leave the primary nesting box on the memorial building on June 20 to test his wings. The female exited June 24.

The male, he said, is catching onto the flying game much more quickly than the female. "The female is typically slower. She's taking her time," he added.

Over the past month, a number of volunteers have been keeping watch over the birds. Walters said he was concerned to learn that one of the birds, believed to be the male, had a couple of hard crashes.

"One of the birds slammed into the glass in the Gateway Towers and into another glass building nearby. We believe it was the male. The female came down close enough to the ground for us to catch her. We were lucky. We put a band on her leg, took her to a vet and had her X-rayed. She was clean. Everything was fine. We then released her back on top of the memorial building," he explained.

"We were afraid the juveniles would come too close to the ground. In this case she did, but we were able to push her and move her up higher."