(BCN) — A well-known feminine falcon that has lived atop UC Berkeley’s Campanile bell tower for years has been lacking in latest weeks alongside together with her newest mate, and consultants who monitor the birds fear that they could have fallen sufferer to the extremely contagious avian flu. Annie, a peregrine falcon that has lived atop the tower since 2016, and her new accomplice Archie have each not been seen on the campus in almost two months, in accordance with Cal Falcons, the group of scientists and volunteers who monitor the birds.
The group stated Annie had produced eggs for eight years straight in a gravel nest field on high of the 307-foot-tall Campanile, however neither she nor Archie has been seen within the skies above UC Berkeley or in footage from the bell tower’s three 24/7 webcams since across the begin of 2025.
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In a social media publish, the Cal Falcons group stated, “this absence is abnormal” and talked about extremely pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, as “the elephant in the room” for why the falcons aren’t there since they usually hunt different birds.
“It is hitting peregrines very hard right now in some parts of the world, probably due in part to their habit of taking shorebirds and waterfowl, the latter of which tend to be carriers of HPAI,” the group stated.
There have been no indicators of sick or dying birds on or close to the tower, however the group stated they’ve to contemplate “it is possible that Annie and Archie have tragically succumbed to HPAI.”
Different potentialities talked about within the publish are that the pair are merely looking off campus and should return, that they moved to a brand new nest, or that they might have fallen sufferer to a predator like an eagle or owl.
“Animals are complex and there could be any number of external or internal factors at play in any particular observation. Annie may have simply decided she no longer likes the taste of pigeon and wants to spice things up with some sandpipers. We may never know,” the group stated.
UC Berkeley has celebrated the falcons through the years, together with holding a Hatch Day occasion final April for the most recent chicks that hatched from eggs within the Campanile nest. Any updates on the falcons can be shared on the Cal Falcons’ social media platforms and at https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu. Copyright © 2025 Bay Metropolis Information, Inc.
