ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – At a ceremony held Friday morning by the Sinnissippi Audubon Society, the pair of newly hatched peregrine falcon chicks were banded and their names were revealed.
Decided through a community vote, the male chick is named River and the female chick is named Charlotte.
Color and number-coded bands were secured on the chicks’ legs to keep track of their journey throughout the course of their lives. The codes are recorded in a national database that incudes weight, sex and banding location. When the banded bird is found months or years later, scientists consult the database and learn where the bird came from.
This was the first banding ceremony since Rockford’s resident peregrine falcon, Louise, disappeared and has since been presumed dead. The female peregrine falcon who laid these eggs is unbanded and does not have an official name…