Woodmen Tower Falcons Lay “Easter Egg”
Omaha, Neb. – A camera focused on the nest on the ledge outside the 28th floor of the Woodmen Tower shows the first egg of the season from Omaha’s only pair of nesting Peregrine falcons. The new male falcon, Mintaka, and his partner, Hera, take turns sitting on the egg that arrived just in time for Easter day. As one falcon arrives to nest-sit, the other takes flight, in search of food.
Experience the anticipation of waiting to see how many eggs are laid, the joy of watching chicks hatch and the anxiety of watching them leave the nest for the first time to explore from 28 floors atop the Woodmen Tower, LIVE on the FalconCam. Visit our FalconCam page, http://falcons.woodmen.org/falcon_cam.cfm and become captivated by the lives of Woodmen’s Falcons.
In the last 25 years, the Peregrine Falcons, once considered endangered, have successfully adapted to their urban habitat on the 28th floor of Woodmen Tower, and have multiplied well beyond the expectations of local raptor enthusiasts. Woodmen falcon offspring have been spotted as far away as South America and the falcons, who once visited for only a few months at a time, now live atop the Woodmen Tower year-round, although it is difficult to say if that behavior is based on preference or the necessity to guard their hotly-contested hunting ground. Peregrine Falcons will fight to the death to protect their territory.
As part of the 25th anniversary of the Woodmen Tower Falcon program celebration, Woodmen of the World will be holding the annual “Name the Falcon” contest again this year through Facebook (Facebook.com/WOWInsurance). Special educational activities have also been planned to commemorate the anniversary. Woodmen of the World has partnered with Fontenelle Forest and Raptor Recovery Nebraska to create educational materials for third through fifth graders, the materials are available online for anyone to use. The public can find out more about the 25th anniversary celebration and the new falcon chicks at the web site at www.Woodmen.org/falcons. They can also follow the Woodmen Falcons through their Twitter account @WoodmenFalcons.
25th-Anniversary Activities Include:
- Annual banding of the new falcons on the 28th floor of the Woodmen Tower. Usually in mid-May. Participants will include the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Raptor Recovery Center, as well as guests from area nature organizations. (Media welcome.)
- Annual “Name the Falcon” contest. Open to the public. Visit www.woodmen.org /falcons following the banding, for details, pictures of the chicks, and a list of winning names from past contests.
- Fund raiser through online sale of anniversary t-shirts, with a portion of proceeds to benefit Raptor Recovery. Visit the Woodmen Store at www.woodmen.org.
- For more information, visit falcons.woodmen.org.
Woodmen of the World was founded in 1890 as a not-for-profit. We give back to our member-customers and the communities we live in. Today, Woodmen of the World offers insurance, annuities, mutual funds,* and 529 College Savings Plans.* More than 700,000 Woodmen of the World member-customers across the country share a commitment to family, community and country. To learn more about Woodmen of the World, visit woodmen.org.