Yesterday morning the new male peregrine at the Cathedral of Learning stepped on the nest and paused in front of the falconcam.

Ta dah! He is banded and we captured two clear snapshots of his bands: Black/Red, N/29.

(The black/white image was taken in the infrared light before dawn.)

Peregrine fans searched online for his identity and came up empty. This isn’t surprising. Eastern states don’t keep an online database.

I sent the ID photos to Art McMorris, PA Game Commission Peregrine Coordinator, and he looked in his databases — which include states that don’t report online — and came up empty as well.

The bands are within the color/number series issued to a midwestern state but they are not in that state’s database. They were probably used somewhere else. But where?

Art contacted peregrine coordinators in other states and is awaiting information. He says it may take days to get the answer. (Remember, it’s Easter season and the person who knows the answer may be on vacation.)

So we’ll just have to be patient.

In the meantime the new male’s bands provide us with an easy way to tell the two birds apart on camera: Hope is Black/Green, he is Black/Red. 🙂

(photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

p.s. Here’s a nice article in The Trib about Hope and her new mate: Cathedral peregrine finds new beau