Sticky beaks: Birds of prey defy strata company to raise family

This peregrine falcon couple are at home on a suburban balcony.

It appears this female peregrine falcon was not prepared to give up her nesting spot, finding another pot on a balcony of the same building where she had previously laid and raised chicks. Source: Facebook / Crawley Falcons

Key Points

• In lieu of any cliffs, a breeding pair of peregrine falcons have chosen an apartment building balcony to roost.
• The pair had previously laid eggs in a garden pot, but building management asked the owners to remove it.
• The mother has managed to lay eggs on the building again. The pair is not the only urban-dwelling falcon couple.

For the past eight years, a pair of peregrine falcons have nested on a suburban Perth balcony, high above ground level, and successfully raised seven clutches of chicks.

Some people in the building were not happy with the mess and noise that came with baby birds being raised in their neighbourhood, so sought to deter the birds from returning this year. But it appears the birds have no plans of leaving.

The nesting spot

The pair first made use of a garden pot on the balcony of an apartment in the suburb of Crawley, near Kings Park, in 2016.

Despite the mess and inconvenience of having to give up their balcony to the expectant couple from around August through to the Christmas/New Year period, the residents whose balcony had been taken over didn't seem to mind.

They posted photographs of the chicks on social media and shared progress updates on the couple and their chicks.

But in March, those behind the Crawley Falcons Facebook and Instagram accounts shared a post saying it was the: "End of an era."

It read: "Our building management has asked us to remove the pots the hatchlings are laid in, so it may be the end. Apparently someone in the building doesn’t like the noise and mess they make."

In a recent development, however, it appears the female has laid eggs in a different pot on another balcony in the same building.

"Not to be put off by the Strata Company dictates, the first of the 2024 clutch was laid in another location, after the parents dug out a space amongst the weeds," the post said, alongside a photograph of at least one egg amongst some small weeds in a pot.

Urban dwelling falcons

Cilla Kinross is an adjunct lecturer in environmental management at Charles Sturt University in NSW. She said peregrine falcons were not uncommon in urban areas.

She said the birds, which often mate for life, needed two things; cliffs to live on and other birds to eat.

"Now there aren't any cliffs in urban areas, but there are buildings with window ledges which often resemble cliffs," she said.

Most of the pictures of the so-called Crawley Falcons appear to be taken from behind a glass balcony door, which makes sense given the predatory raptors have sharp talons and can be protective of their young.

The birds, which can swoop at speeds of more than 300km/h, are also protected, so are not to be disturbed by humans.

Perth is not the only city to have urban-dwelling peregrine falcons.

Since 1991, a pair has been nesting on the rooftop of an inner city building in Collins Street, Melbourne.

A camera has been set up and provides a livestream feed of the area the birds base themselves from.

The Orange, NSW university campus where Kinross is based also has resident peregrine falcons that can be observed online through a livestream.

She heads up a monitoring project that is recording and studying the breeding habits and natural behaviours of the birds who have made a water tower on the campus their home.

Peregrine falcons that nest in a water tower on the Orange campus of Charles Sturt University are monitored as part of an ongoing project. Source: Supplied / Charles Sturt University

Kinross said the birds peregrine falcons like to eat are also often found in urban areas.

"They're specialised in hunting pigeons, of course, in urban areas, pigeons are plentiful," she said.

Messy creatures

Kinross said the species usually laid eggs towards the end of winter or start of spring, which would hatch about a month later.

She said the chicks would spend up to about six weeks in the nest before flying away.

From some of the photographs shared on the Crawley Falcons page, it's obvious that bird droppings make a substantial mess on the balcony they base themselves on.

But there is other mess too.

Kinross said the male bird helps the mother by providing food for the chicks but what is left behind can often be the remainders of "discombobulated prey".

"They don't tend to eat the bird holus-bolus, they usually pluck it, remove the head, wings, tails," she said.

The most recent update on the Crawley Falcons Facebook page shows two eggs have been laid in the pot on a balcony of the Crawley apartment.