To retrieve a chick, they have to slip on harnesses and use ropes and a variety of climbing gear to ascend some of the tallest trees in the state. Carefully, using ropes and pulleys, he lowers the chick to John. Governor O'Bannon, an avid bird watcher, brought along a camera to document the day. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those photos ends up on the wall of the O'Bannon family cabin in Harrison County. Although eagle bandings are perilous due to the climb, banding peregrine falcon chicks presents another interesting problem.
Peregrines like to nest atop tall buildings.
Sometimes our biologists have to go out on ledges to retrieve the young birds while the adults are diving at the intruders to protect their nests. Just 15 years ago, no one would have thought that bald eagles would be soaring proudly across Indiana skies in near-record numbers, that river otters would be living and playing in Indiana streams or that peregrine falcons would hunt for prey in the sky above some of Indiana's largest cities. But they are. I couldn't agree more.