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Cholena is banded 25 days after hatching.

Cane Run employees helped name the chicks. The female is “Cholena,” an American Indian name meaning “that which soars.” The male is “Cinco,” a nod to the five years the nesting box has been at Cane Run.

KDFWR estimates the chicks are 25 days old. Kate Heyden, avian biologist for KDFWR, said it’s the perfect time to band the falcons because their bone structure is almost fully grown.

“From here on out, they are going to be growing feather and muscle,” she said, adding that the falcons will shed most of their white feathers in the next two weeks. Once their new feathers come in, Cholena and Cinco will start learning to fly.

Heyden says the female falcons are typically larger than the males, so Cholena will wear a bigger band. “Each bird gets a unique alphanumeric code on its leg. The colors and codes are unique for all the falcons in North America,” said Heyden. The information from the leg bands are entered into a database available to all departments of fish and wildlife in North America to track the falcons once they leave the nest.

KDFWR employees apply a spray to Cinco to prevent feather mites.

Yet the birds are making a big comeback in Kentucky, thanks in part to falcon releases in the ‘90s and the placement of nest boxes around the state. KDFWR has placed nest boxes at five LG&E and KU power plants because the crevices and alcoves remind the falcons of their natural nesting locations and provide ample food supply.

Two falcons, known as a nesting pair, will occupy a nest box during the spring. This year, 14 falcons have hatched from the nest boxes placed at our power plants.

Peregrine falcons were first spotted near Cane Run several years ago and this is the first year falcons have actively used the nest box at that facility.


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Our falcons are stretching their wings at Mill Creek