All eyes are on the sky at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange as staff prepare for fledgling peregrine falcon Snow to make its maiden flight from the top of the campus’ iconic water tower.Snow was the only fledgling hatched this year by CSU’s resident breeding peregrine pair Beau and Swift and is now almost 40-days-old.
Adjunct lecturer in environmental management, Dr Cilla Kinross, said Snow was expected to test its wings within the next week.
"The first flight is usually more of a glide from the top of the tower, where the nest is, down to a tree or to the ground," she said.
"It can be a dangerous time for the young bird because until it is able to flap its way up to a tree branch it will be exposed to predators."
The falcons have been permanent residents at the University since 2007, when staff first noticed them hunting from the water tower.
CSU staff mounted a nesting box in the tower and fitted it with two video cameras, and the falcons quickly moved in and raised eight healthy chicks there over the following four breeding seasons.
The project has been supported by the Beaufighters’ Squadron 30, whose emblem is the peregrine falcon and whose motto is ‘Strike swiftly’, so the two adult birds have been named Swift (female) and Beau (male).
This year Swift laid two eggs, but one was lost when it became stuck in Beau’s plumage as he left the nest.
Dr Kinross said Beau and Swift would continue to feed the young bird wherever it landed after its first flight.
"Generally the fledglings eventually make their way into a tree nearby and gradually learn the art of flying," she said.
"Once Snow is able to fly properly it will spend some more time living out of the nest with its parents before moving on to find its own territory."
Live footage of Snow and Swift in the water tower nest box can be seen at www.falconcamproject.org.
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