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Falcon Cam
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Meet our feathered friends
Horizon Milling is pleased to report that, for a third
straight year, a pair of peregrine falcons are nesting
on the roof of the Lake City, MN flour mill.
Last year, Lolo and Gretch, the mother and father, successfully
nurtured three eggs and raised the eyasses. Before their first
flight, the young were banded and blood samples were taken in
order to track their development.
The nest box was built through collaboration between Horizon
Milling and the Raptor Resource Project. The nest box provides
a safe haven for the once nearly extinct peregrine falcons.
The video camera was put in the nest box in 2003 to give
Horizon Milling employees and the community the ability to
watch the peregrines nurture their eggs, which are expected to
hatch in early- to mid-May, online.
Nature's finest flying machine
PEREGRINE FALCONS are nature's fastest fliers; they have been
clocked diving, or stooping, at speeds of up to 220 miles per
hour! Peregrine falcons are about the size and weight of a crow;
the females are larger and more powerful than males. Adults have
slate dark blue-gray wings and backs barred with black, pale
undersides, white faces with a black stripe on each cheek, and
large, dark eyes. Their wings are long and pointed. Peregrines
look, in a nutshell, fast.
Peregrine falcons feed primarily on birds they take in the air,
preying on ducks, pheasants, and pigeons. Although they have a
high mortality rate, Peregrines have been known to live as long
as 15 years. They usually begin breeding at about two years old.
BABY FALCONS are called eyasses. Newly hatched chicks are wet
and covered with white down. But by three weeks of age, brownish
juvenile feathers can be seen poking through the white fuzz.
By five or six weeks of age, the white fuzz has been completely
replaced by brown feathers.
Eyases are helpless. One parent (often the female but sometimes
the male) stays with the chicks while the other finds food for
the brood. Eyases eat an incredible amount of food - but then,
they double their weight in only six days and at three weeks will
be ten times birth size. The eyases can be observed jumping
around and testing their wings, getting ready to fly.
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