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Endangered falcons return to roost downtown
YOUNGSTOWN — Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s ... back up 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.
Stellar’s mate doesn’t have an official name, but some wildlife enthusiasts call him Stammy, in honor of the Stambaugh Building.
The two can be seen at times flying in the downtown area.
As for food, well, it’s primarily dine-in for the pair.
The design of the Stambaugh Building’s overhang has little holes that starlings use for roosts, Greer said.
Falcons eat starlings.
“When the starlings are in the holes, they’re safe,” Greer said. “When they come out in the morning, the falcons have their pick for breakfast.”
There are thousands of starlings, based on the amount of bird droppings in front of the Stambaugh Building, home to a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, he said.
Officials with USA Parking Systems of Cleveland, the co-owner of the building, and the city say continuously cleaning the droppings in front of the building doesn’t do much good, because more appears shortly thereafter.
USA Parking employees attempted to cover the holes with mesh wire to keep out the starlings.
But the falcons swooped at the workers because the birds believed they’re being threatened, said Jeff Hamm, USA Parking’s regional operations manager.
Phil Kidd, the city’s director of events, special projects and community outreach, also got a firsthand look at the falcons as he tried to help USA Parking officials figure out how to get rid of the starlings.
“The falcons are territorial and they swoop,” he said. “The concern is for someone on a scaffold hanging over the side of the building filling in the holes with falcons swooping at them.”
After his brief time on the roof, Kidd said one visit was more than enough.
“The falcons were flying around, swooping and going ‘rahr-rahr’ at us,” he said.
Because the birds are on the endangered species list and are mating, their nest can’t be moved, Hamm said.
USA is also doing work on the roof of its nearby Realty Towers.
“We were on the roof and [the falcons] were swooping,” Hamm said. “They haven’t connected yet, but they swoop 10 feet from you. You start to run and back away. You’re on top of a building and wonder if they’re going to take you over the side.”
The company is looking to hire a company to take care of covering the holes in the Stambaugh building, he said.
The falcons snacking on the starlings will help the bird-droppings problem, Kidd said.