The courtship of the pair of peregrine falcons nesting on a ledge of the Rachel Carson State Office Building in Harrisburg is on full display through DEP's live falcon cam.

Thursday morning, the male falcon was seen bringing the female her breakfast that consists of small birds of prey.  This food offering is part of the courtship/pair bonding process. 

After she lays the eggs, she will do the majority of the incubation (although the male does some as well), while most of the hunting will be done by the male.

According to the Game Commission, the food source is tied to the number of eggs she will lay.  For example, if prey is highly abundant and high quality, then more eggs are laid.  On average, peregrines will lay between 3-5 eggs. 

In 2015, the female falcon laid 4 eggs, with the first one arriving on March 14.

Click Here to watch the Harrisburg Falcon nest live.

To learn more, visit DEP’s new Peregrine Falcon webpage, Follow on Twitter or Click Here and sign up to get email updates via the Falcon Wire newsletter (bottom of the page).

(Reprinted from the March 3 DEP News.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

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3/7/2016