Perched on the Campanile, Grinnell watches the sun go down over San Francisco Bay on a September 2020 evening from the nesting territory he and his mate, Annie, first were seen staking out in late 2016. (Photo courtesy of Cal Falcons)

Grinnell, the campus’s beloved male peregrine falcon, was found injured southeast of campus on Oct. 29 following a fight with a pair of peregrine falcons and is being treated at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek. The incident is raising questions about whether he and Annie, his longtime mate, who likely also was there during the attack, can hold onto their home atop the Campanile, where they’ve raised their young for five years.

“It is possible that the new pair is trying to take over the territory,” said Mary Malec, a member of Cal Falcons who monitors local raptor nests for the East Bay Regional Park District. “In other territories, sometimes the fight ends with one skirmish, and sometimes the fights last over many days.”

Malec said fights between peregrines often result in serious injury. Grinnell, who was identified after being found because he is banded, did not suffer broken bones, but the tip of his upper beak is broken. He also has a wound on his head and on his right foot and left wing, is missing feathers under his chin, and suffered abrasions.

“He is alert … and expected to recover,” she said, adding that the missing piece of his beak can grow back. Veterinarians at the rehabilitation hospital will determine when he can be released, and Malec said Cal Falcons will “seek out the advice of the Predatory Bird Research Group at UC Santa Cruz on how to return Grinnell to campus.”

Cal Falcons is a joint effort by several bird experts who represent UC Berkeley, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, East Bay Regional Park District, the Institute for Bird Populations and the Institute for Wildlife Studies.

Pages: 1 · 2