Over the last few weeks, the two juveniles became more and more difficult to locate. Our formal observations are over, but several volunteers who work downtown managed to keep track of them while they still spent a lot of time hanging around their home cliff. Then, there were no confirmed sightings for a week - just the occasional sighting of an unidentified bird that might be a juvenile or the tantalizing sound of what might be food-begging over the roar of city traffic. Last Thursday, an observer spotted a juvenile carrying prey, and there have been several observations of both juveniles since then - including a band reading on the male, while he was parked outside an office window.
Independence is a gradual process, particularly for the offspring of resident birds. The prey base is around all year, so the adults have no reason to leave. A juvenile learns to catch its own food, but it can be much easier to persuade an adult (by vigorous food-begging) to bring it food than to chase down its next meal. The adults become less interested in providing for their offspring and more inclined to ignore them or avoid them, or to chase them off if they are too persistent.
Ultimately, the juveniles will disperse to make their own way in the peregrine world. Where and how far they go varies wildly. A hatch year 1995 male stayed in Seattle for at least the first year and a half of his life. A hatch year 1997 male was still in Seattle in early October, but was found dead at Los Angeles airport at the end of October. They were both Stewart's and Bell's offspring; both grew up in downtown Seattle. Why did one stay and the other leave and go so far? What will happen this year?
