KALAMAZOO, MI -- A camera reveals a second egg is in the peregrine falcon nesting box on the 13th floor of the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Kalamazoo, less than 24 hours after a dramatic territorial battle between birds.
Between 9 and 10 a.m. Sunday, wildlife photographer Dave Chmielewski witnessed -- and captured images of -- a skirmish between male falcons in downtown Kalamazoo.
He said he was taking photos of the mating between Rebecca, the female falcon that last year raised the first chicks hatched in Kalamazoo, and her new mate, a male named Kewpie, according to its identifying leg bands. But the activity was interrupted by another male who appeared on the scene, Chmielewski said.
"I tried my darnedest to determine if the second male was 'last year's,' but I can't tell," he said. "Last year's male did not have leg bands but he had a very white chest. This challenger didn't appear to have as white a bib. But at this point it is my speculation and memory, so I'm not sure who the intruder is."
Bird watchers have determined that the female is last year's female, based on the color of her leg bands.
"It was quite a sight, and noisy," Chmielewski said of the fight that ensued. "Rebecca did not like the challenger male being around." He said she became agitated and vocal when the second male appeared and challenged Kewpie.
The "aerial battle commenced for about 3 to 4 minutes," at speeds of up to 60 mph, he said. Kewpie won and the intruder departed.
The fight took place after the first egg had already been laid, sometime between 8 p.m. Friday and 2 a.m. Saturday, said Gail Walter, former president of the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo.
Russ Schipper, also a former Audubon Society president, said that even though the research shows peregrines mate for life, "there seems to have been quite a bit of turnover here in Kalamazoo."
Schipper cited Sergej Postupalsky, preeminent raptor researcher in the Great Lakes region, who said peregrine falcons typically lay eggs from late March to May.
"The nesting cycle of most birds is instinctive," Schipper said, related primarily to the increasingly longer days, the photo period, and not necessarily to temperature."
Birds typically begin incubation, sitting on their eggs, when the last egg is laid, but when the temperatures are this low, she will likely begin with the second egg laid, he said.
"With the nest camera and lots of watchers, we should be able to determine if she lays according to the past data," he said.