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 Post subject: History of the Woodmen Falcons
PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:46 pm 
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This history is courtesy of the Woodmen Falcon website.

Woodmen of the World Falcons Year by Year

Each year, the Woodmen of the World Tower falcons provide great entertainment to the public as their young learn to fly and become at home in their element.

Falcons were first placed atop the Woodmen of the World Tower in 1988. Here is a year-by-year chronology of events:

1988
Seven falcons were hacked. They were named Woody, Newf, L.C., Happy, Falco, Willa and Pappy. Five of the seven chicks survived (Happy and Pappy died), but none returned the following year.

1989
Five falcons were released at the Woodmen of the World Tower. Two of the chicks were later named Woody and Sky King.

1990-1991
Woody (released in 1989) returned to the Tower and protected his territory.

1992
Woody returned with a mate named Windy. Windy was released from a building in Des Moines, Iowa. The pair hatched three chicks, Aerial, Zenith and Skywalker. They were the first confirmed peregrine chicks to hatch in Nebraska since the early 1900s.

1993
Windy returned to the Tower and laid three infertile eggs. Woody was never again sighted.

1994
Windy returned, but was killed in a fight for territory by KayCee, a falcon hatched at a building in Kansas City in 1992. Sky King, a male peregrine released from the Tower in 1989, also returned. He and KayCee hatched three chicks, but only one — Sokol — survived.

1995
Sky King and KayCee returned and hatched one chick which did not survive.

1996
Two new peregrines nested at the Woodmen of the World Tower. The male falcon, named Zeus, was released from a building in Rochester, N.Y. Zeus won a territorial battle with an unknown male peregrine, believed to be Sky King. Sky King was not seriously injured and was later sighted in Lincoln, Neb., nesting atop the State Capitol Building.

Later that Spring, a female, named Winnie, previously hatched in 1994 from a building on the campus of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, arrived.

Zeus and Winnie produced four chicks, but the two smaller chicks died of malnutrition. The two remaining peregrine chicks were named Atlanta and Olympus in honor of the 1996 Olympic Games.

1997
Zeus and his mate, Winnie, returned to the Woodmen of the World Tower and Winnie laid four eggs that hatched between May 15 and May 18. Unfortunately, all four chicks were found dead on May 19, 1997. It was determined that unseasonably hot temperatures were responsible for the chicks' deaths.

1998
Zeus and Winnie hatched five chicks — two female and three males. The female chicks were named Omaha and Husker, while the male birds were named Offutt, Maverick and Tower.

1999
Zeus and Winnie produced five eggs, hatching three male and two female falcons. One of the males later died. The two remaining males were named Spike and Doorly, while the females were named Goldie and Joslyn.

2000
Zeus returned to the Woodmen of the World Tower for a fifth consecutive year. Unfortunately, Winnie was never sighted. Instead, an unbanded female falcon arrived in mid-February and spent much of the Spring and Summer being courted by Zeus. The pair did not mate and no eggs were produced.

2001
Zeus and the female falcon, which was later named Amelia, spent the winter in Omaha That Spring they produced produced three chicks — two male and one female. The chicks were never named.

2002
Amelia and Zeus produced four eggs. Three females and one male hatched, unfortunately, the male chick was found dead on June 10, 2002. It appeared that the bird, which had not fledged, fell from the 28th floor ledge. The three remaining females were named Faith, Hope and Liberty.

2003
Amelia and Zeus produced four eggs, but only two hatched. The male was named Freedom and the female, Glory.

2004
Another Winter over for Zeus and Amelia, their fourth. Amelia began laying eggs March 7, nearly three weeks earlier than normal. They produced four eggs and hatched three female peregrines, named Monica, Phoebe and Rachael after the three women characters on the television show "Friends."

2005
Amelia and Zeus again produced four eggs in February, but only one hatched. The female was named Athena after the Greek mythological figure who was the daughter of Zeus.

Amelia was found on the ground in downtown Omaha on December 9, with a broken wing. She was taken to Raptor Recovery Nebraska (RRN), in Lincoln, Neb., for observation and later transported to the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn. Veterinarians operated on Amelia December 30, inserting a pin to help the wing heal.

2006
A new female, which was named Hera, appeared atop the Woodmen Tower in March. She and Zeus produced five eggs. Three males and two females hatched in May. One of the males died from injuries suffered when it struck a building window while learning to fly. The remaining two males were named Spirit and Integrity. The two females were named Peace and Honor.

Amelia, who broke a wing in December 2005, completed her rehabilitation at the Raptor Recovery Center at the University of Minnesota and was released into the wild on October 4 at Afton State Park in Minnesota. One week after being released, Amelia was readmitted to the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota in a condition of starvation. Despite the intense efforts of the clinic staff, Amelia died on October 11.

2007
Hera and Zeus produced four eggs in March and one male and three females hatched in May. The male was named Skyler. The three females were named Victory, Patriot and Spirit.

2008
Shortly after two of the five falcon eggs hatched, Hera was injured in a battle with another falcon over territory. She was taken to Raptor Recorvery Nebraska to receive medical attention and rehabilitate her injuries. Unfortunately, despite Zeus' efforts the two eyas died and the remaining eggs did not hatch. Hera was released in the fall and returned to the nest.

2009
Hera and Zeus produced five eggs. One broke during incubation. One male and three females hatched in May.

2010
Hera and Zeus produce five eggs. Two males (Ponca and Oto) and two females (Kiowa and Dakota) hatch. Dakota was picked up by the Nebraska Humane Society on June 27 for being very emaciated. She was transported to the Raptor Recovery Center to be "fattened up." Dakota made a full recovery and was released back into the wild on August 16 from Schramm Park, NE.

2011
Hera and Zeus produce five eggs. Five females hatch (Mae, Amelia, Rosa, Sally and Melba. Named by our Facebook Fan Becky Mae after five famous women that made a difference in our world today: Dr. Mae Jemison, Amelia Earhardt, Rosa Parks, Sally Ride and Melba Pattilo.).

2012
Hera and Mintaka produce five eggs. All five eggs hatch producing three males (Farnam, Dodge and Douglas) and two females (Cass and Harney). Named by our Facebook Fan Travis Wurtele (Union Pacific Railroad, Manager of Trucker Brokerage Sales) after five historic Omaha streets.

In mid-June one of the chicks, Douglas, was found deceased on a sidewalk along Douglas Street in downtown Omaha, a couple blocks from Woodmen of the World. His wing was broken and it appears his death may have resulted from a collision, possibly with a building window.

2013
Hera and Mintaka produce five eggs. All five eggs hatch, but one of the eyas dies at two weeks. The other four eyas' are banded on June 3, 2013 and it is determined that there are one male (Big O) and three females (Joslyn, Orpheum, and Durham) in the clutch.


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