It’s a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl. Girl has 13 babies. Boy gets attacked. Girl starts flirting with boy’s attacker while boy recuperates in hospital. Entire city of Berkeley waits to see if they’ll get back together.
This is the sordid tale that’s been unfolding in the East Bay for the past three months. Only in this case, the star-crossed lovers aren’t human idiots—they’re peregrine falcons.
The hussy at the center of the love triangle is Annie, who first paired off with boy falcon Grinnell in late 2016. Since, the couple have been doing the most—nesting on UC Berkeley’s Campanile, mating like bunnies, and providing hours of entertainment for local birdwatchers.
Young love, however, is terribly fickle. In October, poor Grinnell was attacked by a rowdy pair of hooligan falcons who left him with injuries to his chin, beak and left wing. He was found afterward languishing on a trash can (the humiliation!) at the Berkeley Tennis Club, and whisked away to Walnut Creek’s Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital to recuperate.
During his three-week absence, Annie and one of Grinnell’s avian attackers started brazenly flirting in front of God and everyone, all over town. They even spent Thanksgiving together! (What must the children think?) This despite the fact that the Lothario in question is a “floater”—ornithologist parlance for homewrecking, non-breeding falcons who are just in it to win a nest. (Get it together, Annie!)
