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Peregrine Falcon: Peregrine Falcon. Courtesy Craig Koppie, US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The peregrine falcons at the High Bridge power plant usually lay eggs in mid- to late March. The female lays one egg every 2 to 3 days, with an average total clutch of 3 to 4 eggs. It's 33 to 35 days until the eggs hatch; during that time, the female spends most of the time on the nest incubating the eggs and the male does most of the hunting and brings her food.
Once the young hatch, the female cares for them continuously for the first few days and then her attention slowly wanes as the chicks get stronger. The chicks will remain in the nest for 35 to 42 days after hatching. At some point during this time the chicks will be banded with their identification number and name them so they can be tracked in the future.
And this is where you come in. Submit your ideas for names for the potential falcon chicks at the High Bridge power plant in the comment section below. (Names can't be reused, so we've provided a list of those already taken.) If the falcons produce a clutch of eggs, we'll select the best names from your submissions and post them in a poll for everyone to vote on in a few weeks. The top vote getters in the poll will be the names given to any chicks that survive and are banded.
So — what do you think? What's a good name for a falcon? Don't forget to check the polls page in a few weeks to see what names have been selected and vote for the best one!
Here are the names that are already taken:
Abby, Alice, Allie, Alpha, Amanda, Amilia, Amy, Andrea, Andy, Angel, Anton, Apryl, Barbara, Belinda, Ben, Berger, Bern, Bert, Bertha, Beta, Bolt, Bomber, Bor, Brice, Britta, Burt, Buzz, Candy, Cassie, Charlee, Charlie, Cherokee, Chicklet, Chris, Cleo, CoCo, Cole, Colleen, Coz, Craig, Crystal, Cyndi, Dale, Dana, Danberg, Davey, Dawn, Delene, Delta, Diamond, Diana, Diane, Dick, Dixie Chick, Donna, Doolittle, Dot, Ed, Eileen, Elaine, Electra, Esperanza, Faith, Fast Track, Fluffy, Fran, Frank, Gamma, George, Gib, Gloria, Gold, Gretta, Grunwald, Harmony, Hickey, Hippie, Hope, Horus, Hotshot, Howard, Hunter, Huske, Irvine, Isabel, Jackie, Jacob, Jan, Janice, Jasmine, Jay, JB, Jenny, Jessy, Jim, Joe, Joe, Judy, Julie, Kali, Karlsen, Katraka, Kester, Kitty, Kody, Kramer, Krista, Laura, Leo, Leon, Leona, Leonardo, Liberty, Lightning, Lily, Linton, Lolo, Lon, Lora, Loree, Loretta, Lori, Louise, Lucky, Mac, Maggie, Malin, Manthey, Mapper, Marie, Marshall, Marty, Mary, Maude, Mew, Mica, Michael, Michelle, Minnie, Miranda, Miss, Miss Pam, Mulder, Murphy, Neil, Nero, Nicole, Nora, Oar, Orville, Oscar, Pam, Pamella, PF Flyer, Pathfinder, Penelope, Penny, Phyllis, Polly, Porky, Prescott, Princess, Putnam, Quark, Queen, Rachael, Ralph, Razor, Red Ed, Rick, Rochelle, Rocket, Rocky, Romeo, Ryan, Ryu, Sarah, Scarlet, Screech, Scully, Seminoe, Shakespeare, Sharky, Sheri, Sheridan, Sherlie, Smoke, Smokey, Sonic, Sophia, Speedy, Spider, Spirit, Spivvy, Static, Stephanie, Sue, Survivor, Swoop, Terri, Thelma, Thunder, Travis, Tundra, Vector, VernaMae, Veronica, Waldo, Wanda, Warren, Wayne, Webster, Wilbur, Willie, Wood, Younger, Zack, Zippidy
The falcons have been banded and named. They are Starshadow (F) PaTao (F) Lucky (M) Yugi (M). While "Santa's Litle Helper" received the most votes, a name length restriction we were not aware of disqualified the name when we submitted it, so the #2 name ended up being the name used. The other three names were selected by Bruce Vento Elementary School.
How about Gozer? (from ghostbusters!)
I work as a commercial diver and working on the high bridge plant. we are currently in the process of converting the plant from coal to natural gas. The stack (scrubber) that holds the falcons will be torn down. New nesting will be installed on the new natural gas plant. You can also view falcons at the Black Dog Xcel energy plant.
i think striker would be a good name
Yeah, I dig that one. My suggestions are Superfalcon, Falco, Falcotronic, Mr. Supreme, Nolcaf, or Dr. Grip.
I heard the babys named are dedicated to 2 schools first then to individuals? true not true? thanx
that falcon is the ctest darn thing i've ever seen
Martin has a nice ring to it....
I think "Hannibal" would be a great name. Like in the "A-team", or like in "silence of the lambs". Also a great leader was named that, besides,its alot better than RainbowStarrSky or other hippie names.
There are 2 eggs in the Highbridge nest this morning. We are watching for 1 or 2 more on the live camera feed in the Mississippi River Gallery. After the last egg is laid we start the wait of 33-37 days for the eggs to hatch.
falcon
Why not starshimmer? I like it.
I'll throw Starshadow out there - it was the name of my cat when I was a kid.
On Saturday March 24th- the Highbridge resident female "Athena" laid her first egg. Over the next couple of days we can expect an egg every-other-day. When the last egg is laid- we start counting the 33-37 days until the eggs hatch.
How about Falcor, after the dragon in The Never-Ending Story?
Or Professor Killsmice?
There are now 4 eggs in the nest. we are expecting a hatch date of around the 5th of may give or take a few days.- from the river gallery staff
4 eggs of what kind of bird\r\n
Xcel has made arrangements to have kids at Vento Elementary help name some of the falcons this year as well as visitors to Science Buzz. Since there are four eggs, students from Vento Elementary will pick three names and Science Buzz will pick one. The names would become official on banding day (probably late May, early June).
what if only 2 eggs survive.
How about names from the Simpsons? Homer, Marge, Maggie, Bart, Lisa, Santa's Little Helper?
Are the unavailable names assigned to falcons previously hatched?
Some extremely random ideas: Mildred, Sweetpea, Yo-Yo Mr. Birdie (or Ms. depending on sex of bird), or Issac Hayes aka "Soul-Bird."
Thats all I can think of right now.
Yes, the names that are not available are already in use by other falcons.
Or prisons. (My husband and I joked, in our darker moments, about naming our baby girls after penitentiaries.) Leavenworth, Attica, Rikers, Sing-Sing...
I think is should mean something such as Talia ( means wolf ). that is my nomination\r\n
I nominate either Seamus or Finn. Both are great names that embody the grace and elegance of a SMM falcon.
I would like to have one named after my grandaughter Yanna. We always tell her it stands for (you are never never alone.)
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