Week 2 at CMNH

Last Friday I got to go and watch three baby Peregrine Falcons be banded. Fist a skinny guy from the Division of Wildlife squeezed through a narrow window an grabbed the chicks from the nest while trying not to be knocked over by the very angry mother Peregrine Falcon whose name is SW. After grabbing the babies we moved into a larger room so that all the press and people who had come to watch could see. First they put a band around the bird’s ankle with a number on it that’s equivalent to our Social Security number. Then they put on a purple band on the other ankle with an I.D number on it that birdwatchers could see. Finally they drew blood from the birds. They believe that two of the falcons are girls and one’s a boy. They were named Arrow, Dart, and Spike. Then we were allowed to pet the baby birds. I can honestly say that they are probably the softest things that I have ever touched. After all of this the same skinny guy from the Division of Wildlife put them back and again tried to avoid being attacked by SW and Ranger (her mate). After all this was over we went back to the museum and I got to work in the deer yard which is becoming one of my favorite things to do. The deer are so sweet and try to eat your cloths. Later that day I was allowed to get Sweetie (one of the museum’s Red Tailed Hawks) on the glove which took me about 5 tries before I was successful. If you want to see the baby Peregrine Falcons then go to: http://snipurl.com/w8ogb

-Emily