Four active chicks
MGE's two nesting falcons, Vern and In-Trudy, hatched four eggs the week of May 13. MGE posts selected video clips throughout the nesting season.
Thursday, May 17, 2012: Vern and In-Trudy take a moment to inspect their four chicks, which hatched earlier this week. All four chicks are active and looking for food.
- Madison's Falk Elementary School (nicknamed the Falkons) has proposed seven names for this year's MGE falcon chicks.
- Now you can vote on your favorite name.
- Go to the falcon voting page. The top four names will be announced when the chicks are banded in early to mid-June.
Background
MGE has a video camera installed inside the peregrine falcon nesting box atop its Blount Generating Station just east of downtown Madison. The video posted here is the most recent. Click the 2012 Season link to see video clips from earlier this season.
MGE installed the nesting box in 1999. After 10 years of vacancy, falcons first began using the box in 2009. From 2009-2011, a nesting pair of falcons (Frightful, the mother, and Vern, the father) successfully hatched 11 chicks. This year, Frightful returned to the nesting box in February, with Vern following early in March.
However, an unidentified female falcon (with no ID bands on her legs) also arrived this season. Earlier this year, this female had territorial fights with Frightful, who has not been seen since March 20. The new female laid four eggs between April 4 and 11. We have dubbed this new mother falcon as In-Trudy, given the way she has intruded on Frightful's nest and territory. Vern also has been spotted in the nesting box visiting and feeding In-Trudy, including taking turns nesting atop the incubating eggs even as they begin to hatch.
Learn more about falcons:
- A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources expert explains how the falcon parents teach the young to fly.
- A National Geographic video shows the amazing speed and skill of adult falcons in the air.
- Learn more about Wisconsin falcons with "Wisconsin Falconwatch 2011" [4.1 MB PDF] published by falcon expert Greg Septon.
