Peregrines鈥攁nd a Photographer鈥擝unk Out at Chicago Man鈥檚 Apartment

A flower-box nest provides the perfect opportunity for some close-up shots of a plucky falcon family.

Update, March 2016 鈥 Steve and Linda are back! This year, Luke Massey is returning to Chicage in hopes of making a documentary. Donate to that project . 

In the spring of last year, a Peregrine Falcon began visiting Dacey Arashiba鈥檚 condo balcony in Chicago鈥檚 Lakeview neighborhood. Counting himself lucky, he began documenting the bird with photos and video, and he happened to be filming on April 3 when a second peregrine swooped in. 鈥淗oly crap!鈥 Arashiba exclaims on the tape, 鈥渢here are two of you?鈥 There were indeed鈥攁 pair looking to procreate. Apparently, the 28th-floor flower box was the perfect love nest. (鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 replenished the dirt in a few years,鈥 admits Arashiba, an IT consultant who moonlights as a comedian and singer.)

A delighted Arashiba named the birds Linda and Steve after the classic Perry rockers, the (unrelated) lead singers for 4 Non Blondes and Journey, respectively, and so began a chatty, weeks-long human鈥搑aptor cohabitation. Arashiba鈥檚 footage often catches him greeting his two amigos鈥斺淕ood afternoon to you, too鈥; 鈥淢orning鈥; 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit windy today, isn鈥檛 it?鈥濃攚ho, for their part, largely ignore him. They seemed primarily interested in each other, calling out frequently with their loud eechup courting call. 

Unfortunately, all that noisy inter-avian propositioning irritated other condo owners, as did the copious amounts of bird poop raining down around them. After fielding numerous complaints, the building manager decided that the birds had to go. 鈥淎nd that was it,鈥 Arashiba says, 鈥渇or a while.鈥

Within two months, though, Linda and Steve were back. 鈥淚 kept my mouth shut and told the peregrines to do the same鈥攏ot that it did any good,鈥 Arashiba says. Then, on May 29, an espresso-colored egg appeared in the flower box. Then two. Then three. Now it was serious; Arashiba turned to Google. His 鈥淧eregrine Falcons in Chicago鈥 search directed him to the , which has tracked Illinois鈥檚 population since 1985. Arashiba sent program director Mary Hennen an email with a photo of Linda and Steve attached.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the Belmont-Addison pair,鈥 Hennen immediately replied, identifying the birds by the names of the parallel streets that run through their territory. She said the couple had united three years ago (peregrines mate for life), and had already attempted to nest twice that year (in 2013 the pair had successfully fledged four falcons in a different flower box in the area). The falcons are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so it is illegal to kill or even disturb them, Hennen told Arashiba. Armed with this information, he went on the offensive. 鈥淭he birds have returned, but we can鈥檛 do anything about it,鈥 he explained to the building鈥檚 management. And with that, Linda and Steve became the tower鈥檚 newest tenants.

Hennen told Arashiba it was unlikely the couple鈥檚 third clutch of the year would survive, and she was right. In early July Arashiba looked out to find an empty nest. (When peregrine eggs fail the parents either push them out of the nest or eat them.) Linda 鈥渟at on the railing that night, not in the nest as usual,鈥 Arashiba recalls. 鈥淚 poured a whiskey, and we had a little wake.鈥

The birds weren鈥檛 likely to return to the same nesting spot, Hennen told him. But this past spring, almost exactly a year after the first encounter, they were back. 鈥淟inda showed up and sat on the railing,鈥 Arashiba says. 鈥淚 was really excited.鈥 Then came Steve. By mid-April there were four eggs. Arashiba had a hunch that this time the eggs would hatch, so he set up a webcam and .

The account caught the eye of as he lounged one night in his camper van near Venray, the Netherlands, scrolling through Instagram after a full day filming beavers. 鈥淚 was pretty amazed by the photos,鈥 says Massey, whose camera work of illegal bird hunting in Malta won a . A few hours later Massey direct-messaged Arashiba, asking about the peregrines. Arashiba responded, recounting Linda and Steve鈥檚 multi-season nesting saga.

Eventually Massey asked if he could come photograph the birds; Arashiba agreed and even offered Massey and his assistant (also girlfriend), Katie Stacey, his spare room. Three weeks later they arrived in Chicago, where Arashiba, at work at the time, had left spare keys with his front desk. 鈥淚鈥檓 a trusting sort of guy,鈥 he laughs, recalling his couch-surfing days as a rock musician. 

While Arashiba went about his normal routine, Massey and Stacey began shooting the birds and their just-hatched offspring. During three different visits, they spent 14-hour days capturing the early lives of the chicks, named Katy, Luke, Joe, and Refrigerator after other famous Perrys.

The chicks were naturals, and the parents were very forgiving. 鈥淟uke [Massey] lucked out with a very calm pair,鈥 Hennen says. None of the photos showed signs of agitated birds鈥攚ings outstretched or beaks wide open. Still, Massey kept his distance鈥攁t least six feet from the new family. To capture Linda in her favorite corner roost, Massey had to hang out of a window, while Stacey held the flash eight feet behind him, ready to swap lenses. (There was a lot of precarious leaning involved in the 8,000-plus shots Massey took.) 

Despite living in such close quarters, Massey, Arashiba, and Stacey managed to avoid getting on one another鈥檚 nerves. Talking peregrines by day and consuming wine and dinner together after dark, they bonded quickly. The photographers saw Arashiba鈥檚 comedy troupe, Awful People, perform its newest sketch, 鈥淥dd Bird,鈥 a David Attenborough鈥搃nspired nature documentary spoof on the peregrines (鈥淚t鈥檚 May, and the wandering falcons have returned to the city . . . instead of a cliff scrape, a 30-story building with a pool . . .鈥).

By late June the chicks had lost their downy feathers and were preparing to fledge. Their early attempts at flight put the three humans on edge, but luckily the birds were smart enough to tip in onto the balcony, instead of out onto the pavement鈥300 feet below. Before they flew off for good, Hennen and a colleague from the Chicago Peregrine Program stopped by to attach identification bands to the chicks鈥 legs, standard practice with urban peregrines. When the last chick flew on the first of July, Steve and Linda left as well. 鈥淥nce [the chicks] were off the balcony, my primary emotion was relief,鈥 Arashiba says. 鈥淚 also felt that second-hand pride of an uncle when the kids turn out well.鈥

Hennen and her team will be able to identify the Belmont-Addison fledglings in the months and years to come thanks to their ID bands鈥攅ssential for a bird that was removed from the state鈥檚 endangered and threatened species lists only in May. Thanks to the Peregrine Program鈥檚 successful captive-release effort, 21 breeding pairs now thrive in a state that hosted just one back in 1988. Similar programs, and the 1972 banning of DDT, allowed Peregrine Falcons to be removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999鈥攖he same year they became Chicago鈥檚 official bird. The raptors have rebounded quickly, in part because of their willingness to adapt to urban environments, swapping their preferred cliff nests for skyscraper ledges and, of course, high-rise balconies.

Massey, who is publishing a children鈥檚 book and a of his photos, hopes Steve and Linda will return next spring. If they do, he may, too鈥攅ven after thousands of photos, there was one shot he didn鈥檛 perfect: the food pass between parents. Regardless, the trio will reconnect soon; Arashiba will join Massey and Stacey for a vacation in Spain, where the couple is  currently photographing the Iberian lynx.

Back at the condo, the residents are now fully on board with sharing space with the birds. Massey recalls one neighbor across the way who liked to crack a beer and just sit back and watch them. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost the norm for locals now,鈥 he says, 鈥渏ust grilling on your balcony barbecue, right there next to one of the fastest animals in the world.鈥