Nesting season is officially underway for the Peregrine Falcon pair that has made their nest at the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland. Today, Morela, a female Peregrine Falcon, laid her first egg of the season! The National Aviary operates a livestream camera at this site where Morela and her mate, Ecco, have made their nest, and the public can follow along at aviary.org.
Morela laid her first egg at 8:30 a.m. on March 18. Peregrine Falcons usually lay three to five eggs and the female begins incubating the eggs fully after she has laid the second-to-last egg of the clutch. Morela and Ecco will share nesting duties for about 34-35 days, relieving each other every several hours to hunt. Hatching of all the eggs takes place over the course of 24-48 hours. The chicks spend about 6 weeks in the nest before they are ready to fledge. After that, the young falcons will spend the summer with their parents before moving on to stake out their own territories.
Until quite recently, Peregrine Falcons were an endangered species in Pennsylvania. Their populations had declined quickly in the mid-twentieth century due to the use of DDT, an agricultural pesticide. With careful conservation action, Pennsylvania’s Peregrine Falcons increased in number and eventually began nesting on the natural cliff sites they had historically used, in addition to manmade structures like bridges and skyscrapers. Their successful recovery resulted in the removal of Peregrine Falcons from the Commonwealth’s list of endangered species in 2019 and from the threatened species list in 2021.
Morela and Ecco successfully fledged four chicks in 2021. Morela arrived at the Cathedral of Learning nest site in September of 2019. She was named for the Polish word meaning “apricot,” referring the distinctive apricot hue of the plumage on her chest. Morela’s mate, Ecco, was first spotted at the nest site in February of 2020.
The National Aviary’s live streams offer a window into the natural courtship, nesting, and parenting behaviors of these magnificent birds of prey, with expert commentary from Ornithologist Bob Mulvihill. The Pitt Nest Cam at the Cathedral of Learning is managed by the National Aviary and offers viewers free livestreaming video of the nest.