Cohasset, Minn. — Four peregrine falcon chicks hatched at Minnesota Power’s Boswell Energy Center in May have been named, banded and are getting ready to fledge in the coming days.
A team from Minnesota Power and the Raptor Resource Project in Decorah, Iowa, climbed the Boswell stack Tuesday, June 11, to check on the health of the four nestlings and outfit them with ID bands. All four — three males and one female — appear to be thriving.
Thanks to the first-graders in teacher Ashley Lindner’s class at Cohasset Elementary, the falcon chicks also have names. After brainstorming a list of potential monikers, the children voted to name the birds Silver, Midnight, Luna and Bella.
With these four nestlings, Boswell has produced more than 90 falcons since 1993, making it the top producer of the peregrine nest sites tracked by the RRP. The nonprofit organization’s records show that Boswell falcons have gone on to nest at sites in Menasha, La Crosse and Neenah, Wisconsin; and Whitewater State Park and Oak Park Heights, Minnesota.
Minnesota Power has long been a partner with the RRP, and specialists from the nonprofit organization visit Boswell and MP’s Hibbard Renewable Energy Center in Duluth, where there is also a nest box, almost every year.
Chicks were banded most years since 1993 at Boswell and 2008 at Hibbard. More than 130 chicks have been fitted with leg bands at the two locations. The RRP continues to work with Minnesota Power and other power companies across the Midwest to provide falcon nest boxes and do the leg banding.
One band has a unique federal identifier number assigned by the North American Bird Banding Lab; a second band is an auxiliary marker distributed regionally by the Midwest Peregrine Society. The leg bands allow researchers to track and study the falcons, including changes in range, population numbers and migratory behaviors.
People often ask if the bands will constrict the falcons’ legs as they grow. According to the RRP specialists, the birds’ legs are nearly full grown at this point and the bands will not harm them. Now about three weeks old, the nestlings will remain in the nest box until they can fly, sometime in early July.
Bird enthusiasts can watch a livestream of the family at Minnesota Power’s Falcon Cam. The peregrine falcon has made a remarkable comeback after use of the pesticide DDT nearly wiped out the population. The raptor was named an endangered species in the 1970s, and power companies like Minnesota Power played a role in the peregrine’s recovery by placing nest boxes on the stacks of their power plants.
Supporting a healthy peregrine falcon population is an example of Minnesota Power’s commitment to building a cleaner, better world, which is represented by the company’s “Planet” value.
Minnesota Power provides electric service within a 26,000-square-mile area in northeastern Minnesota, supporting comfort, security and quality of life for 150,000 customers, 14 municipalities and some of the largest industrial customers in the United States.
