It has been said before, time flies! This brood of four healthy eyases are now almost four weeks old and have been banded for future tracking. On May 20th, Kathy Clark, Chief of the NJFW Endangered and Nongame Species Program and Union County staff banded all four young.
For banding, they were all brought inside the building so it can be done in a controlled environment. Falcon young can be sexed at the time of banding and all young produced here are male! This is a stark contrast to the last couple years when all were female!
To sex, their upper mandible/bill length is measured. This is to ensure the correct size band is used on the bird. Males are smaller, so their upper bills are smaller (up to 18mm) and they get a smaller band (size 6 – females get a size 7). This is a little more tricky when you have young that are all the same sex! It makes even the experienced bander double and triple check their measurements to be sure they are accurate and using the correct size band. You basically don’t want to put a male band on a female or it would be too tight on their leg.
Their aux. bands are: BH/92, BH/93, BH/94 & BH/95. As they get larger and it gets warmer, they will head outside more and more. Soon they will be venturing around the roof ledges and make it harder to keep track of them. In another couple weeks, they will make their first flights, which is when they’re around 6-7 weeks old. If you live in the area and want to volunteer to watch this nest from the ground, we could use your help. Once these young fledge, they can often land on the ground. Having a volunteer on fledge watch really helps ensure their safety! Please reach out to Ben Wurst if you’re interested.