Identifying Who They Ate

Ringed (banded) racing pigeon in the wild in France (photo from Wikimedia) 15 July 2026 Peregrine falcons eat birds for a living and leave the remains behind, usually just feathers and bones. Every once in a while they eat a banded bird and if we’re lucky the band remains on the gravel at the Pitt peregrine nest. Can we identify who they ate? Right now there’s a small blue metal band near the green perch that’s been on the gravel for about a year, disappearing and reappearing at random. Blue band on the gravel, 14 July 2026 (snapshot from the National Aviary Falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh) It cannot be read in a closeup but it looks like a homing pigeon band (racing or wedding dove). It’s uncommon for the Pitt peregrines to catch a homing pigeon but I’ve seen it before. Blue band on the gravel, 14 July 2026 (snapshot from the National Aviary Falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh) About 15 years ago during a Pitt peregrine banding, Art McMorris pointed out a homing pigeon band that he’d…