After spending weeks in emergency care, one member of the peregrine falcon family living on top of the Cathedral of Learning passed away.

In mid-September, Red died in the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Center at Cornell University after being diagnosed with multiple lung conditions. Of the four chicks that hatched this spring, Red was the only male.

The peregrine falcon nest is located on the building’s southeast side facing Forbes Avenue, where people can see through a 24/7 live camera provided by the National Aviary. 

Ian Herzog-Pohl, a senior computational biology major and president of Pitt’s Birdwatching Club, said the falcons started to arrive in Pittsburgh around 2000 to 2001. 

“[They] first started Downtown and later into the Cathedral of Learning because they need a tall building to dive down,” Herzog-Pohl said. “They chose the building and people started giving them nests.”   

Red left the nest around late May or early June of this year and shortly after, he was found in South Oakland with a severe head injury after a collision. He was quickly transported to the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh’s Wildlife Center, where they also found elevated blood lead levels in Red’s system, according to the National Aviary’s website.

Red was then transferred to Tamarack Wildlife Center, 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. 

“We were very concerned with his X-rays upon admission — there were areas of opacity or cloudiness,” Holmgren said. “It was definitely an area of concern for our rehabilitation staff and something that we were monitoring.” 

Based on these x-rays, Tamarack’s 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.

“Nothing completely got rid of it,” Holmgren said. “It was the necroscopy [that] showed us that he had very severe airsacculitis.” 

Airsacculitis is the inflammation of the air sacs and can be caused by poor air quality and environmental stress. The necroscopy also revealed that Red had chronic severe bronco pneumonia, according to Holmgren. 

Because of this report, Holmgren said Tamarack decided Red needed extra support. The Tamarack team worked to get special state permission to transfer Red to Cornell University’s Wildlife Center for the falcon’s immediate care and recovery. 

“We had some questions about his medical care that were not able to be diagnosed with the tools we had,” Holmgren said, “so we pushed him off to Cornell.” 

Holmgren said following the transfer, Red’s medical condition initially improved before quickly deteriorating days later. 

“We all did our best for him, and I’m grateful the necroscopy results show that there’s nothing else we could have done,” Holmgren said. “He had something too big for us.”

While caring for Red, Holmgren said she grew fond of the young peregrine, calling him a curious creature with a charming personality. 

“Sometimes when we were hand feeding him some food with a medication, he would walk over on his perch close to engage with us,” Holmgren said. “We all fell in love with this bird. He oozed personality.”