Media Opportunity

May 31 Peregrine Falcon Banding at Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning

 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  May 30,  2007.)   The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) is coordinating the banding of four peregrine falcon chicks on the 40th floor of the Cathedral of Learning, Thursday, May 31. The banding event begins promptly at 10:30 a.m. and is expected to conclude by noon. Media and invited guests are asked to arrive before 10:30 a.m.  

The nest box was built in 2002 by the Conservancy near the top of the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland.  The first peregrine egg was laid on Mother’s Day of that year. The University of Pittsburgh nest is the second and younger site in the Pittsburgh area for the peregrines. A similar nest was constructed by the WPC in 1990 at the Gulf Tower.  Earlier this month, three males and one female peregrine offspring were banded at the downtown Pittsburgh location.

Beth Fife, a wildlife conservation officer from the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and Charles Bier, senior director of conservation science at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy will be present at the University of Pittsburgh banding to answer questions about the birds. Banding involves placing identifying bracelets on the legs of the chicks. Peregrine falcons are a protected species in Pennsylvania and are especially important because of their endangered status. 

The nest box is filled with round pea-size gravel in which the peregrines create a depression to ensure their eggs do not roll off of the ledge. In the wild, peregrines nest on cliffs, but in urban settings, they seek a private spot on a tall building or bridge.

Banding the young peregrine falcons allows the WPC to conduct conservation and management research of this species, such as immigration patterns, selection of nesting sites, longevity, modes of death and ultimately success of the project.  WPC is partnering with The National Aviary on the peregrine falcon project this year. Because the falcon is no longer endangered, beginning next season, both the Pitt and Gulf nesting sites will be coordinated by The National Aviary.

                                                                  

About the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy:
Since its founding in 1932, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has protected more than 212,000 acres of natural lands in Pennsylvania, restored watersheds and saved natural habitats for a diversity of life and uses.  The Conservancy has been responsible for the founding of six state parks, including Ohiopyle, Laurel Ridge, McConnell’s Mill, Moraine, Oil Creek and Erie Bluffs.  In addition, WPC created the 300-acre Wildflower Reserve at Raccoon Creek State Park, and added land to Blue Knob State Park.

The WPC also preserves Fallingwater®, the masterpiece home designed in 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Edgar J. Kaufmann in Mill Run, Pennsylvania.  In 1963, Edgar Kaufmann jr. (sic) entrusted Fallingwater to the Conservancy.  Today, WPC continues its award winning preservation efforts and offers a wide variety of educational programs to more than 135,000 annual visitors.  The preservation of Fallingwater is a symbol of living in harmony with nature. 

Each year, WPC also partners with 5,000 volunteers and dozens of community organizations and businesses to plant and maintain more than 135 gardens and greening projects in 20 western Pennsylvania counties.

High resolution photographs are available upon request.

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