After spending weeks in emergency care, one member of the peregrine falcon family living on top of the Cathedral of Learning passed away.<\/p>\n
In mid-September, Red died in the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Center at Cornell University<\/a> after being diagnosed with multiple lung conditions. Of the four chicks that hatched<\/a> this spring, Red was the only male.<\/p>\n The peregrine falcon nest is located<\/a> on the building\u2019s southeast side facing Forbes Avenue, where people can see through a 24\/7 live camera provided by the National Aviary<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ian Herzog-Pohl, a senior computational biology major and president of Pitt\u2019s Birdwatching Club<\/a>, said the falcons started to arrive in Pittsburgh around 2000 to 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[They] first started Downtown and later into the Cathedral of Learning because they need a tall building to dive down,\u201d Herzog-Pohl said. \u201cThey chose the building and people started giving them nests.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Red left the nest around late May or early June of this year and shortly after, he was found<\/a> in South Oakland with a severe head injury after a collision. He was quickly transported to the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh\u2019s Wildlife Center<\/a>, where they also found elevated blood lead levels in Red\u2019s system, according to the National Aviary\u2019s website.<\/p>\n Red was then transferred to Tamarack Wildlife Center<\/a>, which specializes in treating raptors according to executive director Carol Holmgren. She said his elevated blood lead levels were a problem but not the most significant issue Red was facing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe were very concerned with his X-rays upon admission \u2014 there were areas of opacity or cloudiness,\u201d Holmgren said. \u201cIt was definitely an area of concern for our rehabilitation staff and something that we were monitoring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Based on these x-rays, Tamarack\u2019s team questioned whether Red had a bacterial or fungal infection in his air sacs, according to Holmgren. She said they then gave Red anti-fungal medication and antibiotics.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing completely got rid of it,\u201d Holmgren said. \u201cIt was the necroscopy [that] showed us that he had very severe airsacculitis.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n