For eight years now, Bay Area bird nerds have been keeping track of the mating habits of Annie, a feisty peregrine falcon who nests on top of UC Berkeley’s campanile. What originally started as a straight-forward ornithological study has, in the last few years, also managed to attract legions of students and casual observers. This is thanks to (a) the Cal Falcons crew who film Annie’s every move and (b) the fact that Annie’s love life has been the stuff of soap opera for the past two years.
Don’t believe us?
For six years, Annie was paired with Grinnell, a faithful little fella with whom she had 15 chicks. In late 2021, when Grinnell was in the hospital, Annie came very close to having an affair with an interloper, then changed her mind at the last minute. (Phew!) Then, after Grinnell was hit by a car and killed (nooo!) in 2022, Annie roped in a new stepdad named Alden to help her raise Grinnell’s last two babies. (Thank heavens!) Alden stuck around for just seven months before being replaced by Lou, who Annie had three chicks with last year. (Get it, Annie!) Then, when Lou disappeared in January (dun-dun-duuun!) Annie paired up with her latest beau, Archie.
(Side note: Clearly, Annie is a 10 in the peregrine falcon world.)
Earlier this month, Annie and Archie hatched four babies in their gravel nest — a record number of chicks for Annie to be taking care of at once. And it seems the sheer number of mouths to feed has softened her approach to parenting. In previous seasons, Annie has been keen to do the bulk of chick-feeding herself, booting her mates out of the way so she can drop scraps of meat into her offspring’s tiny screaming beaks all on her own.
