Birds eye view of falcons

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Patrick Baranowski
(right) of ODNR passes plexiglass for nesting box to Frank Davis (Photos: J.D.
Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

The falcons are in the family way at the Wood County Courthouse clock tower.
As of Tuesday, one egg had been laid in the Peregrine falcons’ roost high above downtown Bowling Green.
The birds of prey commonly hatch as many as four eggs at one time, so by sometime in May, the clock
tower may be bustling with baby birds.
The family of newborn falcons may then have their own reality show, with plans in place to perch a webcam
near the nest to give local residents a birds eye view of the chicks. County employees tried to post the
camera earlier this week, after the Ohio Department of Natural Resources put a nesting box in the clock
tower.
But it was discovered that an egg had been laid.
"I peeked out of a crack in the box," and saw the egg. "It’s kind of cool," said Jeff
Helvoigt, supervisor of the courthouse building and grounds department. "We weren’t able to disrupt
them."
Helvoigt, one of the county employees who has to climb four flights of steep ladder-like stairs to get to
the nesting area, first felt the falcons were just like any other birds.
"I didn’t think much about it till I saw the bird eye to eye," he said.
Helvoigt realized what many others already knew – housing falcons in the courthouse tower is a real
treat.
ODNR officials think so highly of the tower perching Peregrines that they constructed a nesting box for
the pair, which stuck out the winter in the courthouse.
"Peregrine falcons typically nest in cliffs," explained Scott Butterworth, ODNR wildlife
management supervisor. "But they’ve been there since last fall. It looks like they are going to
stay there."
The birds don’t need many creature comforts. They normally scrape together some gravel to make their
nests, Butterworth said.
The nesting box should help the falcon chicks avoid deadly falls before they can fly.
"So they aren’t falling off a ledge," Butterworth said.

Ross Muszynski (left)
and Patrick Baranowski, both with ODNR, install nesting box in clock tower

When the chicks are born, ODNR has plans to band them, and then the webcam can be installed.
Falcons are fascinating, according to Butterworth. Unlike other birds of prey, falcons pursue their
prospective meals in the air.
"They barrel down at about 200 mph with their wings held back," stealthily slamming into birds,
said Chris Gajewicz, natural resources coordinator with the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation
Department. "They just hit it like a missile," breaking their prey’s back, sending an
explosion of feathers into the air, then either swooping to grab it in mid-air or retrieving their meal
from the ground.
Butterworth said earlier this week he found the heads of a woodcock, mourning doves and a grackle that
the falcons had feasted on in the clock tower.
"Peregrines are strictly a bird predator," he said. "They’ll take what’s in the local
area. They can take anything up to the size of a duck."
According to Butterworth, there are currently 34 pairs of falcons known to be nesting in Ohio. Others in
this region have set up nests in the University of Toledo bell tower and the Commodore Perry Hotel in
Toledo.
"They tend to pick tall buildings," to aid in their hunting, he said. That’s probably what
attracted the pair to the Wood County Courthouse. "It’s mimics a cliff."
The flying speed of Peregrine falcons is legendary, according to Butterworth, who repeated stories of
World War II flyers drilling for battle who noted a Peregrine falcon flew past them.
Other information about the falcons can be found at www.wildohio.com.

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