A developer is asking permission from the federal government to remove four young peregrine falcons, which are about two weeks old, from their nest on a downtown Pittsburgh building, according to a letter from the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
The peregrines are nesting on the back of a Fourth Avenue building that faces a Third Avenue building undergoing redevelopment for luxury student apartments, according to the blog Outside My Window by Kate St. John of Greenfield, who is the city's lead monitor for the nesting of area peregrines.
There have been reports of the parent birds buzzing the workers while defending their young at the Fourth Avenue building, according to St. John.
The birds, known as Dori and Louie, are the current reigning peregrines in a long line of the endangered birds that have been nesting in downtown Pittsburgh for more than 25 years.
There are about 50 active nesting pairs of the aerodynamic raptors in the state. They are famous for dives that can top 200 mph, making them the fastest animal on earth, according to the game commission.
Although a peregrine falcon's nest is protected by its status as a state-endangered bird and other laws, exemptions can be made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The game commission is working with the wildlife service on the request, which is “within the parameters of the existing laws and regulations related to migratory birds,” according to a letter sent Friday from the game commission to local peregrine falcon monitors.
Requests for comments from the game commission and the developer were not answered Sunday.
In the letter, the game commission gave assurances that “the chicks' health and well-being is our primary interest.”
Supporters of the birds — residents who monitor, report and save the errant young when they first leave nests — are in an uproar.
“Pittsburghers are good neighbors, and we would like this developer to be a good neighbor and wait one month for the young birds to leave the nest,” said John English of Homestead, who is the founder of the Pittsburgh Falconuts, a private Facebook group of about 375 peregrine falcon fans.
The chief concern is what happens after the game commission removes the young birds and takes them to an animal rehabilitator.
English and others have speculated that it might be a better idea to relocate the youngsters downtown, where the parents will find and still raise them.
The game commission will work with a “rehabilitator with peregrine experience to receive the chicks, if necessary, and rear them until they can be safely released into the wild as fledglings.”
The commission noted, however, that the birds might not be moved at all.
“Sometimes companies get permits but ultimately don't take action; that has happened in the eastern part of the state several times,” the commission said in its letter.
The peregrine falcon was listed as federally endangered in the early 1970s after its populations crashed from use of the insecticide DDT. The Environmental Protection Agency banned DDT in 1972.
The Endangered Species Act, along with other laws and restoration efforts by the Peregrine Fund and other nonprofits and government agencies, such as the Pennsylvania Game Commission , paid off when the birds were federally delisted in 1999.
However, the peregrines have been slow to come back in the northeastern part of the country, where numbers are still low but have gradually increased because of conservation efforts.
In Pennsylvania, populations have rebounded, especially on bridges and buildings, where the birds face a number of threats, instead of in the birds' preferred habitat of wild cliffs.
Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib.
