Protective Peregrine Falcon Parents in Providence
© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

Protective Peregrine Falcon Parents in Providence

ASRI’s Providence Peregrine Falcon live streaming webcam is back online — click here — now we can all watch as the pair raise this year’s eyases. Below is a picture from today of the male guarding 5 eggs while the female hunts for breakfast.

© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

When spring arrives and the Peregrine Falcons have babies in their box, they are extremely protective of their downtown territory. If another bird passes by, the falcons quickly appear to chase it away. They usually just smack into the interloper and tear out a few feathers, but I know of one occassion when the falcons killed a cooper’s hawk. They are extremely fast (up to 200mph!) so it’s very difficult to get sharp pictures of their attacks – here’s a collection of my best attempts…

below: Peregrine Falcon vs Red-tailed Hawk

© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

below: Red-tailed Hawk flying upside-down to avoid Peregrine Falcon attack from above

© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

below: Peregrine Falcon vs Cooper’s Hawk

© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2011 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2011 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

below: Peregrine Falcon vs Turkey Vulture

© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

below: Peregrine Falcon vs Osprey

© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

below: Peregrine Falcons vs gull

© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.
© 2012 Peter Green. All rights reserved.

19 Comments

  1. linda
    Posted 17 Mar ’12 at 11:16 pm | Permalink

    wow, excellent caps. amazing birds.

    • Peter Green
      Posted 20 Mar ’12 at 4:39 pm | Permalink

      Thank you, Linda

  2. suzanne e benson
    Posted 20 Mar ’12 at 4:35 pm | Permalink

    Have been following the family for several days now. What is the machine erected on the right side of the bow. Heat lamp, camera??? Please advise.

    • Peter Green
      Posted 20 Mar ’12 at 4:38 pm | Permalink

      Thank you for your comment, Suzanne. That is another camera, but it’s not functioning and they don’t want to disturb the falcons by removing it at this time.

  3. Chloe C
    Posted 20 Mar ’12 at 8:05 pm | Permalink

    Wow! Looking forward to whatever comes next.

  4. Lynn Borden
    Posted 23 Mar ’12 at 9:54 am | Permalink

    Cant keep my eyes off this live cam…when do the birds switch out? I haven’t seen that yet! Lynn

    • Peter Green
      Posted 23 Mar ’12 at 2:57 pm | Permalink

      Haha! Keep watching…

  5. Lynn Borden
    Posted 24 Mar ’12 at 3:16 pm | Permalink

    Do we have a date of arrival for these eggs???? approximately ?

    • Peter Green
      Posted 24 Mar ’12 at 3:54 pm | Permalink

      Sorry I don’t have that information – you should contact Jeff Hall at the Audubon Society of RI: asri.org

  6. Graham Batting
    Posted 25 Mar ’12 at 11:30 am | Permalink

    Amazing shots! I just witnessed a peregrine doing battle with a red tail that I think was trying to build a nest in the west tower of the Armory last weekend. Great stuff!

  7. Chloe C
    Posted 2 Apr ’12 at 12:48 pm | Permalink

    Better than anything on TV!

  8. Brooke Merriam
    Posted 18 Apr ’12 at 7:58 pm | Permalink

    These are fantastic! My 7.5 year old son loves peregrines and had been telling me how they chase other birds…so cool to see it happening locally! thanks for posting.

    • Peter Green
      Posted 19 Apr ’12 at 10:52 am | Permalink

      Thank You, Brooke, sounds like a smart boy! I just added two pics of the falcons chasing away a seagull this morning.

  9. Lisa Bennett
    Posted 1 May ’12 at 8:35 am | Permalink

    Hi Peter, do you know how many eyases the falcons have this year? Yesterday when I took a peek at the camera it looked like four, but I couldn’t quite tell! Thanks.

    Lisa (@KeeneBirdbrain)

    • Peter Green
      Posted 1 May ’12 at 9:06 am | Permalink

      Hi Lisa – Yep, there are 4 eyases this year. There were also 4 in 2010, but I believe most years they have 3.

    • Lisa Bennett
      Posted 1 May ’12 at 11:38 am | Permalink

      Woohoo! Good for them!

  10. Janet in KY
    Posted 18 Aug ’12 at 9:34 pm | Permalink

    Thank you so much for posting these exciting photos, and for working so hard to take them. Many of us would never see this any other way. Really enjoyed being able to compare their shapes and outlines with other raptors. Peregrines are sometimes seen here in central KY along the Ohio River. Maybe a nesting site in southern Indiana.

    • Peter Green
      Posted 20 Aug ’12 at 9:59 am | Permalink

      Thank you Janet – it’s nice to know people outside of Providence are enjoying my photography

  11. Maureen Mo Cooley
    Posted 24 Mar ’15 at 7:20 pm | Permalink

    What a great teaching tool for a long, cold winter! Share with family and friends! Mo

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