The Adventure of Falcons

The Adventures of Falcons Frodo and Frieda — Patty Beecham

The Adventures of Falcons Frodo and Frieda

By Patty Beecham


About the size of a magpie. As fast as a Ferrari. And mad as hell. That's how Frodo the peregrine falcon was summed up when he shot to fame in The Courier-Mail in 2003. The plucky peregrine, who lives slap bang in the middle of Brisbane city, became the focus of a Courier-Mail webcam designed to give readers an insight into the breeding cycle of these unique and spectacular birds. But Frodo didn't come to our attention under the best of circumstances. It was February and the fiery falcon had laid claim to the rooftop of one of Brisbane city's most prestigious highrise apartment buildings and was ruffling a few feathers. His fearsome and continual swoops on anyone who ventured on to "his" roof had brought maintenance work to a halt on top of the Admiralty Towers One building. Frodo had become a health and safety issue. Workers needed to access the roof to check exhaust — which extracts steamy air from some of the poshest bath-rooms in town — but not one of them was willing to put a steel-capped toe out there unless they could be pro-tected from the bird.


At first residents and workers believed Frodo was an osprey or sea eagle. But when Courier-Mail photographer Nathan Richter snapped a photograph of the mystery dive-bomber, ornitholo-gist Roy Sonnenburg quickly identified him as a peregrine falcon — the fastest animal in the world, with a swoop speed in excess of 300km/h. No wonder those workers were scared. Some people were demanding the bird's eviction, others welcomed this precious piece of nature into the concrete jungle of Brisbane's inner city. National Parks and Wildlife officers were called in to assess the situation and Environment Minister Dean Wells dubbed the city's most popular high-flyer "Frodo", in reference to the Lord of the Rings movies. A compromise was reached, with workers protected by Wildlife rangers when they ventured on to the roof top. Then Admiralty Towers One manager Leon Azar revealed Frodo and a lady friend had in fact been nesting on top of the building since 1999, with eggs usually laid in August. So the life and death adventure begins!


INSERT READER ADVICE HERE—EDUCATIONAL BLURB ETC. Terms: Eyrie—the nest site where the peregrine falcon will breed. Eyas—baby chicks Swoop Talons Feral BLAH BLAH BLAH


Location

Frodo and Frieda raise their young overlooking the Brisbane River.


One upon a time in Brisbane, a peregrine falcon called Frodo and his mate Frieda, began to nest in a

building overlooking the Brisbane River.


A special page was created by The Courier Mail newspaper, so we could watch the wild birds

nest and bring up their young.


A web camera was set up above them and it could zoom in and pan and tilt, all from a computer.

Every 30 seconds there was a new image to see.


It allowed us to see them both day and night. People from all over the world began to watch

what was called Frodocam.


At first there were no eggs, and we waited and we waited. Frodo choose this nest site called an eyrie, but Frieda had the final say on when and where she will nest.


Soon one little pink egg was laid. Peregrines usually lay from 1 to 5 eggs, but usually only 2 or 3 eggs are

laid. How many eggs will they lay this year?


Eventually Frieda laid her second egg. We were very excited!


Frieda, the mother, rarely left her nest of little ones. They will take about 33 days to hatch.


When it rained she covered her head into her feathers.


Then there were three eggs, can you count them?


She guarded them from the rain, protecting them with her body.


Frieda was a loving and attentive mother, who sheltered her babies from the beating hot sun.


Sometimes Frodo came to help guard the baby eggs, and would sit for hours watching the city traffic from

his perch high on the ledge.


He would sit, and watch, and sit, and watch, every day.


All day.


And all night.


All the next day.


Even when he had an itchy leg!


Some days it rained, but the eggs were warm and dry because Frieda protected them with her body.


Soon the spring sun shone out again, and the eggs were safe. They are incubated for about 33 days be-

fore they will hatch.


During the day she would stretch her legs and check on her eggs.


When the sun was very hot she was very careful to shield them.


If the camera moved, it would make a sound, and she would look up.

The camera doesn’t hurt her though, and she is safe.


They will begin to hatch very soon. Frieda is very patient.


One day the eggs were all lined up in a row.


She moved them all back together again with her wing. This is normal during incubation.


And then the shell began to crack on the first egg.


Her first baby falcon had been hatched.


Birds don’t name their young, but I wonder what names would you call them?


The baby chick is small and helpless when first hatched, but it will develop very quickly

into a full grown bird in only 6 weeks.


Frieda was a very new mother and didn't have much experience in looking after young chicks,

but she loved them.


She brought her little chick its first meal. Falcons eat fresh meat, usually other birds.


You can see the detail of the empty egg shell and it’s mottled pink appearance.


The young will eat as much food as Frieda can bring to them. With their mouths open, she

drops the food into it. They don’t even chew!


The second egg hatched the next day.


The soft feathery down helps to keep them warm, and protects them from rain and dew.


The chick’s eye is barely open, but he can call to his mother. Peep peep! Peep peep!


The little fledgling looks up to his mother for food. They will eat lorikeets as well as other parrots,

pigeons, large honeyeaters, starlings, and other birds.


The little chicks slept a lot.


But woke up in time for dinner. What’s on the menu today? Not pigeon again?


The third egg did not produce any chick. This is fairly common if the egg isn’t fertile.


So the two little chicks grew bigger, and stronger every day. They are now called Eyas, which means an

unfledged hawk or falcon, who cannot fly yet.


The constant feeding of the chicks sometimes made Frieda tired. They learn to hunt partly by instinct, and by watching their parents.


The little chicks cuddled into each other for comfort and protection when Frieda was hunting for food.


One day there was only one chick. The other one died, it was very sad but it

wasn’t anyone’s fault.


Frodo came to say hello to his surviving chick, a little girl.

In time, she will grow larger than a male falcon.


People watching her on the camera suggested different names. Someone called her Hope.

In Europe they called her Aussie.


Another person suggested Squishy. What name would you call her?

Frodo brings more food for his little girl.


Isn’t she getting big now? Although not ready to fly yet, she makes clumsy

attempts to flap and spread her wings.


One day there was a threat from the skies—another raptor—and Frieda protected her young fledgling by shielding her with her own body. Frodo was close by

too.


Falcon claws are very strong. The claws or talons have blue tips because they are not skin like the legs,

but like our fingernails.


The little chick looked out to the city below, and wondered if she would ever

fly like her parents.


The chick began to grow some real flight feathers. She was growing up fast!


Every day she would test her wings to build up her strength and muscles. Flapping became

less clumsy as her balance improved.


She is now about 5 weeks old and her feathers grow every day.

Isn’t she gorgeous?


Flight feathers will help her swoop and soar over the city, reaching a top dive speed of over 180km/hr.

I wonder if she is thinking of her first flight?


Every day she practices. Flap, flap, flap. Her wing span will be between 81—106 cms across.


Practice, practice, practice. It’s the only way to improve.


She is changing and growing big and strong. Males on average weigh 550 grams,

and females weigh 820 grams.


One day she sits on the ledge, just like her mum and dad. She feels giddy with excitement.

It won’t be long now.


Her baby-chick down is being replaced every day by her first coat of feathers.

She won’t grow adult feathers for another year!


She is still unable to catch her own food, but that will change when she begins to fly. Frieda feeds her again to build her strength.


Suddenly in a burst of bravery mixed with a dash of foolishness, she takes flight.

Look at me! I am flying.


She soars high above, feeling the wind rush over her wings. She soon returns, and her heart is thumping

with excitement and the effort of flying.


But it seems that today is not the day she leaves the nest forever.


Suddenly she is overcome with doubt. Is her flying good enough? Will she be able to feed herself ?

It is scary in the big world.


As the traffic of Brisbane passes below her, our little girl rehearses some more wing flapping. Yesterday was a great adventure, and she wants to fly again.


In the wild she will live for 12-15 years, she must be able to survive.


Now a strong young fledgling, she surveys the city below and soon, she will fly only 6 weeks

after hatching.


Her feathers are brown with reddish-brown vertical streaks on the breast. Adult falcons have black hori-zontal bars on the chest, and dark blue-grey backs.


Her talons are strong enough to catch her prey in flight, and her strong claws and beak will tear the

flesh apart. It’s nature, and survival.


Although her diet will include other birds, she will probably eat what her parents fed her. They can

develop specific tastes, just like people.


If you look up one day when you are in Brisbane, and suddenly see a shower of feathers gently and

quietly falling to earth, you will know that high above the skyscrapers of the city, a brave little Peregrine

Falcon has just caught her lunch, in her own territory.

Not pigeon again!


Good luck little falcon, and goodbye.


PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Peregrine Falcons are one of the few birds that occur worldwide. Each part of the world has its own distinctive form of this majestic bird. Australian Peregrines, once known as Black-cheeked Falcons, can be found just about anywhere in Australia, from the coast to the Outback and from the tropical north to the temperate south. Even in arid interior, they can be seen around billabongs and permanent waterholes. Peregrines have lived in Australia for a long time. Their fossil remains have been found in Pleistocene depos-its dating to about 1.85 million years ago. A study of deposits found at a cliff where Peregrines nest in Tas-mania discovered that the oldest deposits were laid down about 8600 years ago. Australian Peregrines are medium-sized (0.5 m), stocky, deep-chested birds of prey (raptors) with long, nar-row, tapering wings. The head of an adult Peregrine Falcon is covered by a blue-black cap, its back is a dark slaty grey, throat white and the rest of the underparts white to buff with narrow black bars. Juveniles are similar but more brownish in colour and the underparts are streaked rather than barred. Like many eagles, hawks and falcons, but unlike most other birds, male Peregrines are smaller than females. This phenomenon is known as Reversed Size Dimorphism.


COURTSHIP

Courtship between Peregrines, involves aerobatics, posturing and calling. The male also brings food offerings to his mate. The pair 'communicate' threat, appeasement and accep-tance, using various postures and variations to their decidedly unmusical 'kak-kak-kak' call. Pairs mate for life, but if something happens to one member, a replacement is often found fairly quickly. The replacement comes from the unattached birds that are constantly moving, in search of a mate or territory of their own.


NESTING

Unlike eagles, hawks and kites, falcons do not build nests. Instead they use the disused (or usurped) nests of other birds, tree hollows, the ground or ledges and cavi-ties on cliffs. Most local Peregrines are cliff nesters, and for a select few, tall city buildings have become fancy cliffs! Peregrines have favourite breeding sites that they use every year, but in cities, they may move nest sites as newer and better locations are constructed around them. Peregrine Falcons usually breed between August and November, when conditions are suitable and food is readily available. In tropical and subtropical Queensland, breeding may occur even earlier: during 2002 in southern Queen-sland some pairs bred between April and July.


BREEDING

After mating, 1–5 (commonly 2–3) speckled brown eggs are laid. The female does most of the incubation, although the male may assist from time to time. He is the main food provider and is often absent for long periods seeking prey or patrolling the territory to 'warn-off' other Peregrines or potential predators (other raptors, crows, etc). The eggs hatch after 33 days. The nestlings start life in downy white, but soon start feathering. This is a busy time for the parents because the nestlings are almost constantly hungry. At first the male does most of the hunting, but as the young grow both adults hunt. It takes about six weeks for the young to make their first flights and as they become more competent on the wing, they move away from the nest. Juvenile Peregrines are dependent on the parents for anywhere between 7–26 weeks. If they are still near the nest when the next breeding season starts, they will be chased away. If the juveniles survive the dangerous first year of their life, they will moult into adult plumage and start searching for a mate and territory of their own.


HUNTING Few experiences in Nature can rival the experience of standing under a Peregrine Falcon as it brakes out of near vertical dive by suddenly spreading its wings and tail; resulting in a loud roar of air. One is left to wonder how mere flesh, blood and feathers can survive the awesome physical forces at play on the bird's frame. It is with justification that Peregrines have been described as the 'ultimate predatory bird' or even as the 'Top Guns' of feathered hunters. The package of adaptations that has produced such an effective and formidable aerial predator includes: • acute vision; • streamlined and powerfully muscled bodies; • narrow, tapered wings; • short and sturdy legs; • long, thin toes tipped with strong, curved talons; • powerful bite. • Peregrines search for likely prey while on the wing, or from a high, commanding perch. Once it has located a potential victim, the falcon will launch a high speed attack; chasing the intended victim, swooping up from below or diving vertically with wings closed. The speed that Peregrines reach as they dive has been estimated at more than 180 km/hr!


DIET

A Peregrine’s diet is mainly made up of other birds, particularly pigeons, parrots, waterfowl, shorebirds and large songbirds. Peregrines that live in Queensland towns and cities mainly hunt pigeons, lorikeets, galahs, doves, mynas and large honeyeaters – and even an occasional crow. Occasionally Peregrines will occasionally capture birds and mammals, such as rabbits, on the ground or snatch rats from the ledges of buildings in cities.


Concept and Design: Patty Beecham Productions Acknowledgements: With thanks to the

• Environmental Protection Agency

• Queensland Museum raptor expert Greg Czechura

• Admiralty Towers

• Kudos Security Solutions

• Courier Mail Online Editor John Grey

Images:

Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd

Patty Beecham

Website:

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/extras/frodocam/frodo.htm

(c) 2008


Dedicated to the children of the world, big and small, and the wonders of nature.

COPYRIGHT Unless otherwise agreed in writing, use of the concept / design / graphics / copy is limited to the purpose for which it has been supplied. No authority is given to merchandise the graphics and or designs or to reproduce the artwork for any other purpose than the agreed purpose. Any concept strategies / techniques / designs / marketing strategies copy / being presented to a potential user or third party, are confidential and re-main copyright and or property of Patty Beecham Productions. IMAGES Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd and Patty Beecham


NOTES:


Follow the real life and death adventures of wild falcons, Frodo and Frieda, through a breeding season high above the

city streets of Brisbane.

Suitable for younger primary school readers.

Warning! May contain interesting and educational material.

The Adventure of Falcons

Documents

Transcript of The Adventure of Falcons