After a few weeks of being called the New Guy, a peregrine falcon that swooped in to save the nest atop UC Berkeley’s Campanile, has earned a name.
Meet Alden, named for the late Alden Miller, who was an American ornithologist and Berkeley alumnus. Alden — the bird, not the ornithologist — has become the new mate of Annie, a peregrine falcon that has roosted on the tower since 2016.
Annie’s longtime mate, Grinnell, was killed on March 31 after a rather chaotic few months that had seen Grinnell injured in a territorial dispute, his return to the nest, Annie’s brief disappearance and presumption of death, her mysterious but celebrated return and the successful reunion of the pair.
At the time of Grinnell’s death — it’s believed he was struck by a car — Annie had laid two eggs. Fans of the pair, who watch their lives unfold via three cameras focused on the bell tower roost, feared for the future of the nest because a single falcon cannot incubate eggs and take care of hatchlings on his or her own.
Within hours of Grinnell’s death, however, New Guy showed up and found Annie not at all averse to his courtship moves. The two quickly mated and New Guy, as he was dubbed, began bringing Annie gifts of food and taking a turn sitting on the eggs, which soon increased to three. New Guy is not banded, but he is easily identified by a limp caused by a healed injury to one leg.
Because of the volatility of the situation, Cal Falcons, a group of UC Berkeley experts who monitor the nest, was reluctant to give New Guy a name. There were other males, called floaters, in the area, and it was uncertain whether New Guy would stick around.
When it appeared Annie and New Guy were definitely a thing, Cal Falcons sought name suggestions with connections to the university and held an online vote among the eight finalists — Alden, Lou, Archie, Savio, Takaki, Ed, Ned, Morgan and Calvin. Alden took an early lead and won with 29 percent of the vote.
The name is part of a symmetry that flows — with a lot of quick turns, not unlike a falcon in flight.
Annie is named after Annie Alexander, an explorer and philanthropist who founded the university’s Museum of Paleontology and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Grinnell was named after Joseph Grinnell, who was Alexander’s choice to head the vertebrate museum.
Now comes Alden, who is Grinnell’s successor, mirroring the connection between their human namesakes — Alden succeeded Grinnell as the director of the museum.
Annie and Grinnell fans have taken to Alden even as they mourn Grinnell, grateful the new guy had the courage to step into the void. Next up: waiting for the the eggs to hatch. The first one is on track to do just that on May 6.
Source: www.mercurynews.com