Westar and partners band Peregrine falcon chicks; ask the public to help name them

Hadley Spreer, 6, had a front row seat to this morning’s peregrine falcon chick banding. Hadley watched as Brad Loveless, left, Westar Energy executive director of environmental services, and, John Arent, a volunteer with the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, completed the banding of two peregrine falcon chicks born on the rooftop of Westar’s Topeka headquarters earlier this year. Hadley’s parents, Megan and Aaron Spreer, both work at Westar Energy

PRESS RELEASE

Westar Energy is inviting the public to help name two peregrine falcon chicks born this spring as part of Westar’s falcon preservation efforts. This morning, Westar Energy employees and volunteers banded two male Peregrine falcon chicks, who were born earlier this spring in a nest atop Westar Energy’s headquarters in downtown Topeka, Kansas. Brad Loveless, Westar Energy executive director of environmental services, was joined by John Arent, a volunteer with the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, to complete the banding.

Peregrine falcons are fitted with metal leg bands to provide researchers with valuable data on peregrine survival rates, dispersal distances, and population growth rates. The standard leg band for Peregrines is a silver metal band issued by the federal Bird Banding Lab. The band is inscribed with a unique 9-digit code that allows birds to be identified during future re-sightings or captures. To report seeing one of these bands, visit the ReportBand.gov website.

To view this morning’s banding, visit https://www.facebook.com/westarenergy. To submit names for the falcons, add your suggestions to the company’s Facebook page post.

Brad Loveless, right, Westar Energy executive director of environmental services, and at left, John Arent, a volunteer with the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, begin the banding two peregrine falcon chicks born on the rooftop of Westar’s Topeka headquarters earlier this year

From a low of 39 nesting pairs of peregrine falcons in the U.S. in 1972, more than 1,000 pairs exist today. Westar has been an important part of this successful falcon recovery program. To learn more about Westar’s peregrine falcon conservation efforts, visit https://www.westarenergy.com/peregrine-falcons.

Additional background on Peregrine falcons can be found at: https://www.audubon.org/fieldguide/bird/peregrine-falcon

One of the world’s fastest birds; in power-diving from great heights to strike prey, the Peregrine may possibly reach 200 miles per hour. Regarded by falconers and biologists alike as one of the noblest and most spectacular of all birds of prey. Although it is found on six continents, the Peregrine is uncommon in most areas; it was seriously endangered in the mid-20th century because of the effects of DDT and other persistent pesticides.