The fledgelings are now about four weeks old, and are showing signs of being ready for flight training. A week or two called “Hell-week” by the experts and volunteers, due to the speed and lack of control on the part of these youngsters. With them hatching on a building in Down-town Salt Lake City, there are many and varied dangers.. Including but not limited to shiny windows, cars/trucks and physical hurt due to falling. These birds are pretty high on the food chain as far as other animals go, no other animals really prey on them. But many times they can attract illnesses from the food they are fed (such as city birds/small rodents) Fortunately pesticide that put them on the endangered-list have been banned for years and the population is now healthily climbing.
So the meeting tonight was basically to petition for and inform volunteers to help keep an eye out for these four.
In our family we’ve named them of course, and they are in order of birth: Junior, Turkey Basting, Nameless (adapt. from “Toothless”) and bibi-bibi (aka. the baby or the runt).
Basically they need help with paying attention to these four when they start flight training, by watching them and following them, if they fall to the ground; to catch them for release on top of building, or if hurt, hand them over to the rehab. people. With four young it might be a little busy too keep track of them all, so they were asking for more volunteers this year.
Rob Walters of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, has worked with these birds for many many years (since the mid ‘80s I think) and is in charge down there on Temple Square. He is expecting “hell-week” to start around July 4th which I think is fitting for these majestic creatures. :D
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