Endangered falcons return to roost in downtown Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN —Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s ... Backup a little bit.

It’s not a bird. It’s two birds in particular.

Among the thousands of birds downtown are two peregrine falcons. Peregrine falcons are on the state’s endangered species list.

The pair recently arrived and made the roof of the Stambaugh Building, 44 E. Federal St., their home for the fourth consecutive year.

Pairs of peregrine falcons usually return to the same nesting spot every year, said Damon Greer, assistant supervisor at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Akron office.

It isn’t known what initially attracted these two to the Stambaugh Building, he said.

When Greer visited the pair last week he found that the female, Stellar, had laid one egg. He expects to check on them later this week. Peregrine falcons usually lay two to four eggs each year. A 33-day incubation period follows.

Stellar laid four eggs last year with three chicks surviving.

Those birds stayed with their parents until mid-June last year, then left to establish their own homes somewhere else in the Midwest, Greer said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.