The Department of Environmental Protection hosted a peregrine falcon banding and health-check event at the Rachel Carson State Office Building, where staff and volunteers weighed chicks and fitted them with identification bands, officials said.

"We are excited to have you here with us today for the 2025 Rachel Carson State Office Building Peregrine Falcon Banding Event," said Anwar Curtis, deputy digital director with DEP, at the start of the program.

The event combined a brief public program with hands-on work: team members removed two chicks from a fifteenth-floor ledge nest, performed routine health checks, applied a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service metal band plus a colored readably band, and recorded weight measurements before returning the chicks to the nest. Organizers said this site has been active since 2002 and that about 90 young peregrines have hatched there since then.

Patty Barber, the staff member who led the inspection and banding, described the event as necessary though personally uncomfortable. "These banding events are, well I'll just own it they're really uncomfortable for me; I'd rather not be standing in front of you but I think the information's really important," Barber said. She walked volunteers through handling, cautioned that chicks will vocalize and appear distressed, and said the team moved quickly to minimize stress.

Barber explained the two-band approach: a silver Fish and Wildlife Service band, which serves as a unique long-term identifier, and a colored band with a four-character alphanumeric code intended to be read with binoculars or a spotting scope. For short-term field identification at this site, organizers applied temporary colored tape (one chick received a green marker) so volunteers could tell siblings apart while the birds remain near the building.

Organizers said there were three chicks in the nest this year; crews had already banded one earlier and handled two during the demonstration. The team weighed each chick using a scale with a capacity to about one kilogram; the scale readings discussed during the event were given as "9.10" and "9.50" (units not specified in the program). Barber noted the weighing included a handling bag that she said weighed about 30 grams and that the bag weight is measured because small leftover items can change the reading.

A volunteer representative for Watch and Rescue described the volunteer monitoring program that helps fledglings learn to land and avoid urban hazards such as glass and traffic. That representative said watch shifts are scheduled to begin on June 2 and run through June 18, with the first fledglings likely visible a few days after the start. "Because we're on the ground and because most of you are volunteers, we've been able to rescue and give many of these birds a second chance," the Watch and Rescue speaker said, recounting that rescued fledglings later nested in Wilmington, Cleveland and Bethlehem.

Volunteers were urged to sign up for shifts; the Watch and Rescue representative said volunteer parking is not provided for free this year and that organizers are working on options.

The session closed after the final chick was returned to the ledge; staff told the public they would answer additional questions but that the banding portion of the event was finished.