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Peregrine falcon lays first egg this season in power plant nesting box

Female falcon with egg in nest box at the Weston power plant
Wisconsin Public Service
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Wisconsin Public Service
Female falcon with egg in nest box at the Weston power plant

Peregrine falcons nesting at a power plant in central Wisconsin have laid their first egg.

Wisconsin Public Service says a peregrine named Sheldon is back for his eighth season using a nest box at the Weston Power Plant.

They know it’s Sheldon because he’s been banded.

An unbanded female sharing the nest box with him is likely the same one that nested inside the box last year.

Both peregrine parents will take turns incubating their egg or eggs during the coming weeks.

The first chicks should begin hatching in a little over a month.

A total of 433 chicks have been born at WPS and We Energies power plants in Wisconsin and Michigan since the companies’ programs began in 1992.

These chicks are 20% of all peregrine falcons born in the wild in Wisconsin, and have helped this endangered species recover.

John Burton is the WXPR Morning Edition Host.
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