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Finding their wings: Stunning photos show young falcons’ first flights

They've got adult bodies, but Zephyr, Rosa and Luna are still practicing their flight skills, playing and getting fed.

By Gretchen Kell

May 30, 2023

Rosa, one of the two female falcons born on the Campanile in 2023, comes in for a landing, looking straight ahead.

Rosa, one of the two female falcons that hatched in April 2023 on the Campanile, comes in for a landing. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)

Zephyr flew first, followed by Rosa and then Luna. On Friday, May 26, all three peregrine falcon siblings, offspring of Annie and Lou, flew off UC Berkeley’s Campanile for the first time. The young raptors — two females and a male hatched in early April in a nest box on the tower — have practiced their takeoffs, flights and landings ever since and will continue perfect their skills, and also learn to hunt, in the next month or two. Then, they’ll leave home to find their own territories.

“They’re all starting to fly really well,” said Mary Malec, a raptor expert with Cal Falcons. She and a team of about 25 volunteers have now wrapped up the annual Fledge Watch. For about a week, as the newest falcons learned to fly, they monitored the activity through binoculars and were ready to help should a fledgling get stranded or hurt.

Annie the mother falcon calls out from atop a light fixture on the Campanile.
On Saturday, May 20, Annie sits on a loudspeaker on the roof of Evans Hall, seemingly calling out the start of Fledge Watch, an annual springtime event when her newest offspring learn to fly off the Campanile. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Annie, UC Berkeley's longtime peregrine falcon, flies past the Campanile as her mate, Lou, watches from a perch on the tower.
Annie (front) glides past the Campanile that same day as Lou watches from a perch on the tower. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Annie, UC Berkeley's longtime female falcon, flies along through the skies, with a blurry green and brown background.
Annie enjoys a solo flight. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Three Fledge Watch volunteers look up in the skies for signs of the young falcons taking their first flights. Two are looking through binoculars.
The next day, Fledge Watch volunteers Wing Ng (left) and UC Berkeley students Violet Henneberger (center) and Miles Turman (right) check the skies for signs of flying falcons. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Annie and Lou, Berkeley's peregrine falcons, fly close together in formation, with Lou holding prey in his beak.
On Tuesday, May 23, Annie (left) and partner Lou return from hunting. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Cal Falcons and Fledge Watch volunteers sit on the grass and in lawn chairs, some looking through binoculars at the skies near the tower, checking for signs of the chicks attempting to fly.
Fledge Watch volunteers, including Cal Falcons raptor expert Mary Malec (in chair, center, with binoculars), wait and watch for signs of first flights. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Annie, the mother falcon at Berkeley, flies through blue skies during Fledge Watch, the annual stretch of time when her chicks start learning to fly.
Annie demonstrates perfect flight form that Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
One of the young falcons, Zephyr, looks down from an opening in the Campanile's decorative fleur-de-lis ornamentation, still not ready to fly on his own.
On Tuesday at sunset, Zephyr peers down from an opening in the Campanile's upper balustrade, through its fleur-de-lis ornamentation, but is not ready to fly. Neither are his sisters, Luna and Rosa. (Photo by John Davis)
Annie, the mother falcon at Berkeley, flaps
On Thursday, with the flap of her wings, mother Annie (above) encourages Zephyr (right) and Luna (left) to jump off the west side of the tower and to try and fly. They don't budge. (Photo by John Davis)
Lou, the father falcon, sits on a corner of the Campanile, on guard while two of his offspring, Luna and Zephyr, consider jumping to try to take their first flights.
Lou also gets ready to help his offspring, positioning himself on a corner of the Campanile as Luna (left) and Zephyr (right) look north from the tower. (Photo by John Davis)
One of the young falcon chicks, Luna, sits on the edge of the Campanile but decides not to take her first flight.
On Thursday evening, May 25, Luna looks out at the world from the same balustrade, but decides to stay put. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Zephyr, the male peregrine falcon chick, sits near the edge of the Campanile and looks down, and chooses not to take his first flight.
Zephyr still is not ready. None of the young birds has yet flown. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Cal Falcons biologists Sean Peterson and Lynn Schofield pose beneath the Campanile with their young son Vireo.
Cal Falcons biologists Sean Peterson (center) and Lynn Schofield (right) pose with son Vireo at Fledge Watch. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
UC Berkeley students Violet Henneberger and Annie Zuromski, who also are Fledge Watch volunteers, sit on the grass near the Campanile and smile at the camera. Violet is wearing a Cal hat and a Cal Falcons sweatshirt and Violet has her laptop open and a water bottle and backpack next to her.
UC Berkeley students Violet Henneberger (left) and Annie Zuromski are also Fledge Watch volunteers. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Zephyr, the male falcon chick, practices flying and lands atop South Hall, the oldest building currently on campus.
On Friday, May 26, Zephyr is the first to try flying. He leaves the Campanile at 3:45 a.m. and lands on the oldest building on campus, South Hall, which was completed in 1873. This photo was taken at 10:43 a.m., when he was continuing to test his skills there. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Zephyr, the male falcon chick of 2023, grabs onto a piece of South Hall with his talons and squawks, his beak open and his back arched and wings up high.
"I did it!" Could that be what Zephyr's expressing? (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Rosa, one of the female falcons hatched on the Campanile in 2023, flies through the air.
Rosa takes her first flight around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, May 26, about four hours after her brother Zephyr did. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Lou, the father falcon, sits atop a pole on the Campanile and is watching Rosa, one of his offspring, sitting on part of the tower just below him.
Later that morning, Lou (left) stays close to Rosa. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Rosa, one of the new female falcons hatched in 2023 tried landing on the Campanile.
In the evening, Rosa attempts a tricky landing on the Campanile. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Falcon Rosa comes in for a landing on a vertical wall of the Campanile.
It's a vertical challenge, but Rosa eventually nails it. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Zephyr, the new male falcon that hatched in April 2023, points his legs and talons down while preparing the land.
Zephyr keeps practicing that Friday. Here, he gets his talons ready for another landing. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Annie the falcon plucks meat off a bird that she's hunted and will give it to Zephyr, her male offspring, who is sitting directly across from her on top of a campus building.
Annie brings food to Zephyr on South Hall. She subsequently places the food into his mouth. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Zephyr, the male chick of 2023, sits in a tree on campus where he landed after a long day of flying.
Zephyr chooses to spend the rest of Friday in a tree. He's too tired to fly back to the nest on the Campanile. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Luna, one of the new female falcons that hatched in 2023 flies confidently through the skies.
Looking confident, Luna, the largest of the two female juveniles, soars through the skies on Friday evening. This photo is of her first flight. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Luna, one of the new female falcons born in 2023, has landed on a campus building and is spreading her wings behind her.
As she lands, Luna gives us a look at her beautiful wings. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
The three falcon siblings of 2023 sit closely together atop a campus building. The close-up photo shows them with their backs to the camera, sitting just inches apart. One falcon is looking at the camera, the others are facing away.
The next morning, on Saturday, the three falcon siblings spend some time together on the Bancroft Library. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Zephyr, the male falcon that hatched in April 2023, flies confidently through the skies.
Then Zephyr decides he'll fly over to Evans Hall. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Rosa, one of the new peregrine falcons of 2023, lands on Doe Library.
Luna heads over to Doe Library. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
The two female falcons hatched in April 2023 sit closely together during the week when they began to fly.
Her sister Rosa (right) joins her. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Sister falcons Luna and Rosa appear to be talking to each other as they sit close together atop a building.
A sisterly exchange ensues. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Luna, one of the female falcons that hatched on the Campanile in April 2023, sits in a loaf shape on the Bancroft Library. taking a rest from learning to fly.
On Sunday afternoon, May 28, Luna does some "loafing" on the Bancroft Library. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Luna, one of the falcons that hatched in April 2023 on the Campanile, gets ready to fly off the Bancroft Library. Her wings are stretched out and she's standing on a tile roof.
An hour later, she's ready for her next flight. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Falcon siblings Zephyr and Luna spend time in a pine tree near the Bancroft Library.
Luna chooses to spend time in a tree near the Bancroft Library with Zephyr (left). (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Lou, the father falcon at UC Berkeley, carries meat in his talons as he lands on Wheeler Hall to bring a meal to his offspring Rosa.
Later on Sunday afternoon, Lou delivers a meal to Rosa on Wheeler Hall. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)
Luna, one of the falcon offspring of 2023, sits atop the Bancroft Library and is seemingly looking straight at the camera.
As Sunday evening arrives, Luna is back on the Bancroft Library. (Photo by Bridget Ahern)

But photos by wildlife photographers such as Bridget Ahern and John Davis provide the most close-up looks at Zephyr, Rosa and Luna and how Annie and Lou are encouraging, teaching and helping them.

Ahern, who was part of the Fledge Watch team, said she took about 5,000 photos over eight days, documenting the progress being made by the newest members of Berkeley’s famous falcon family.

“I took a week off of work to participate. … It’s just thrilling to see them take their first flights,” she said.

Malec said the falcon siblings like to spend time together and can also can be seen “playing talon tag,” where they hook their talons together midair. It’s good practice, she explained, for when their parents, holding prey in their talons, urge the young raptors to grab it — an important step toward hunting to feed themselves, and their own families, some day.