A huge thank-you to Tom Ricardi for bringing his Birds of Prey program to the Libraries! Tom brought five unreleasable raptors in his care, including a golden eagle, saw-whet owl, barred owl, black vulture, and, in the spirit of our own rooftop residents, a peregrine falcon. #UMassHomecoming

A Homecoming Weekend special event! Tom Ricardi's Birds of Prey, Friday, October 3, 1-2 p.m., Du Bois Library, Lower Level. No registration required.

How could we not celebrate Hobbit Day when one of Tolkien's characters shares a name with our beloved falcon species? Follow Peregrine "Pippin" Took's lead today and enjoy se-cawed breakfast with a side of adventure. Here's Webster doing his best Gandalf impression just for the occasion.

Ahoy! Webster be wishing ye a happy Talk Like a Pirate Day with his favorite joke: What's a pirate's favorite part of the library? The arr-chives! 😆

Webster and the unbanded female hanging out together on the roof. Note how he's head-bowing to her, which is an act of pair-bonding between two falcon mates. Pair-bonding activities are not exclusive to nesting season.

Happy National Video Game Day! Here's Webster playing Caw of Duty.🎮😆 #NationalVideoGameDay

Captain Pi-cawed? 😆Happy Star Trek Day! 🖖 #StarTrekDay

Of course our girls would win the Idol Awards. They're super talon-ted. #KPopDemonHunters

Brief correction: We initially thought this falcon pictured here was Merriam, but now, we are not sure if it is yet another interloper. We'll keep a close watch and try and get some zoomed-in screenshots.

Hello, falcon fans! We wanted to wait to have all the info before making a post: Last week, we received a call regarding a falcon casualty by Lederle. The adult female interloper had struck a window while hunting a racing pigeon. (1/4)

The Caw-mazing Spider-Man? 🤔🕸️🦅😆 Happy Spider-Man Day! You can check out volumes of Spidey and other superhero comics at the Libraries. #SpiderManDay

Merriam has been in the nest box every day since her return, laying claim to her territory. We saw her and Webster head-bowing to each other yesterday, so they are back to pair-bonding with each other. We've seen no sign of the interloping female since Merriam's return.

We're gonna need a bigger nest box... Happy Shark Week! 🦈 #SharkWeek

Falcon fans, we have some surprising news...Merriam is back! Thanks to falcon fan Lee Breckenridge for alerting us! We don't know what's going to happen with her, Webster, and the interloping female, but we'll be keeping a close watch on the situation.

We have some sad news. It appears as though Merriam is gone. While we will continue to look for her around the area, it is most likely that she has been either killed or driven off by a new, unbanded female that has begun to pair bond with Webster: unfortunately, not an uncommon occurrence. (1/7)

The Powergrine Girls here to remind you to take care of yourselves in this heat wave! Did you know peregrine falcons pant like dogs to cool down?

Happy first day of summer from the Powergrine Girls! All three are chilling on the roof together this morning. #NESTFLIX

One of our Powergrine Girls taking off! #NESTFLIX

"Sorry, Mom...I promise not to land inside the roof again..."

Buttercup helicoptered down into the walled area of the Du Bois roof and needed a hand from the falcon team to get back up to the nest box. It's very common for young fledglings to get a little stuck like this, and she's completely fine, if a little embarrassed at her misadventure.

Blossom here would like to announce that the Powergrine Girls fledged this weekend! We'll be keeping a close watch on the cam to try and capture clips of them flying to share with you. #NESTFLIX

The video recording of our 5/23/25 Banding Day is officially posted! It is available on the UMass Amherst Libraries YouTube channel as part of the Falcon Curriculum playlist. Link: youtu.be/WtVglASAY2Y

We've received quite a few questions regarding Webster's whereabouts. He's around! Here he is doing some stretching while watching his girls explore the roof this morning.

The Powergrine Girls are enjoying the nice weather! From left to right: Buttercup, Blossom, Bubbles. #NESTFLIX

Our chicks have begun to branch, a.k.a. exploring outside of the nest box. It won't be long before we see some fledging! Quick reminder that if you see one on the ground, DO NOT TOUCH THEM. Keep an eye on them and call: Richard Nathhorst: (413) 545-6497 Office (413) 530-5424 Cell (413) 367-2422 Home

Introducing...The Powergrine Girls! 💗 94/CA: Blossom 95/CA: Bubbles 96/CA: Buttercup Thanks to everyone who participated in our annual naming contest!

The name suggestions for our 3 female falcon chicks have been tallied! Please vote with this form for your favorite: bit.ly/falconvote25 The voting form will be open until Thursday, May 29, 11:59 p.m. The winning names will be announced on Friday, May 30.

Banding Day & Naming Contest! Happy Banding Day! We are proud to introduce our Class of 2025 falcon chicks: 94/CA: Female 95/CA: Female 96/CA: Female And now they need names! Announcing the official annual public naming contest for the Du Bois Falcon chicks! Here's how it works:

We continue to work with MassWildlife in monitoring Merriam. On a lighter note, if you're wondering what that white stuff is all over Merriam's feathers: lying down in front of the nest box opening puts her right in the chicks' poo-zooka range, and they are certainly eager to show off their skills.😆

Thanks to those who have reached out about Merriam's injury. We & MassWildlife believe it to be a bad sprain, not something broken/serious injury. She is still actively caring for the chicks. We will continue to monitor her and have resources available should the need arise to catch and treat her.

Now that the chicks have your attention...Banding Day is coming next Friday, May 23! Tune in on socials that afternoon for cute falcon photos and the official kickoff of the 2025 Falcon Chick Naming Contest! #NESTFLIX

There's always 1 sibling that despises the group hug. #NESTFLIX

We're fairly certain the 4th egg is not viable, but we'll gladly take the 3 little fluffballs we have! We'll be posting Banding Day info as soon as we confirm with MassWildlife. #NESTFLIX

Happy Star Wars Day from our Millennium Falcons! May the Fourth Be with You! #StarWarsDay

Thanks to the Fabulous 413 with Monte Belmonte, Kaliis Smith, and Merriam-Webster editor Emily Brewster, who came to chat with us about our falcons! Have a listen at the link below. Link: www.nepm.org/podcast/the-...

FALCON UPDATE: 3 CHICKS!!! 🐣🐣🐣🥳🥳🥳🥳 Chick #3 just hatched at 2 p.m. today!

FALCON UPDATE: 2 CHICKS!!! 🐣🐣🥳🥳🥳 Chick #2 appears to have hatched sometime last night or early this morning. #NESTFLIX

FALCON UPDATE: WE HAVE OUR FIRST 2025 CHICK!!! 🐣🥳🥳🥳 #NESTFLIX (Merriam has also been sitting on a prey item in addition to the other eggs right now, so if you see something that looks out of place, that would be it.)

Closeup of the eggs. No pips yet, but hopefully soon! #NESTFLIX

Visuals on all 4 eggs this afternoon as Webster enfluffels them. We'll be on Egg Watch towards the end of this week, so if you spot something on camera, please feel free to take a screenshot and message us! #NESTFLIX

Merriam posing for her fans. Have a great weekend! #NESTFLIX

Guess the chicken wasn't fast enough for him...? 🐔🏇

We're at approximately 3 weeks of incubation right now out of the ~33-35 days it takes for the eggs to hatch. We'll be keeping a much closer eye on the nest box pretty soon! #NESTFLIX

If you love watching our falcons, this event is for you! Share your wildlife observations with nature lovers around the world in this global citizen science celebration! Details on how to participate and FAQ workshops below.

We've received questions about the nest box "shaking" in the bad weather this weekend. It's not the nest box shaking; it's the camera. Our livestream camera is on a long arm apparatus over the edge of the Library roof. It is secure, but will shake a little in the winds that we get up at that height.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Falcon Fan Brad sent us these screenshots from last Friday, when Merriam defended the nest from an unbanded interloper: not uncommon with an increased falcon population. This interloper appears to be a juvenile, which is why this altercation was on the mild side. (1/2)

Webster doing his best to fit all 4 eggs underneath him. Male falcons are approximately 1/3 the size of females, which is why they are referred to as "tiercels" (an old word meaning "third"). #NESTFLIX

Webster's turn to incubate the eggs. We call this "enfluffeling," which is when the adult will pull, push, roll, and rotate the eggs around underneath them so that they develop properly. #NESTFLIX

Mondays are for nest naps. #NESTFLIX

Happy First Falcontact Day! Here's Merriam doing her best Vulcan salute. Falcons are the fastest animal on Earth, reaching ~240mph when stooping/diving. Talk about Warp Speed! 🖖