In a bizarre turn of events, a baby peregrine falcon apparently travelled from Edmonton to Jasper by train.

On June 30, the young female bird of prey was banded with a ribbon on its leg, along with its siblings, at the age of about 25 days old by an Alberta Fish and Wildlife officer in Edmonton. Its nest is near a cement plant in the city above the train tracks.

On July 15 the bird was seen in Jasper, at only 40-45 days old. According to Jasper National Park Wildlife Biologist Mark Bradley, a peregrine falcon doesn’t learn to fly until it is 40 days old, and depends on its mother for the first two months after it leaves the nest to supply it with food and teach it how to hunt.

“There’s no way the bird could have flown here. And the trains go right underneath the cement plant. So we figure it probably fledged prematurely, kind of left the nest before it could really fly, and then fluttered down to the train and hopped it all the way to here,” said Bradley. “This one would have no way of hunting on its own at this stage.”

Bradley said he hopes to catch it somehow and ship it back to the cement plant so its parents can take over again.

He said contrary to popular belief, all young birds- especially falcons, can be handled without being abandoned by its parents. But, he cautions he does not suggest anyone try and handle it themselves.

“When a peregrine leaves the nest, it’s actually bigger than the parent. It’s heavier because the parents have been just feeding it and it’s not really exercising in the nest. And birds change their feathers over every year…when they leave the nest, the feathers are slightly longer than the adults. It probably helps them when they are learning to fly, have more wing area. So they are actually heavier and longer than the adults are when they leave the nest.”

Last week, one of the young birds’ siblings with the same leg band was found dead in Edson, leading Parks officials to believe that at least a couple of the birds had hopped on the train a little too soon to leave the nest.

The falcon in Jasper has been seen in the industrial area of town, at the Mountain Esso station and on the east side of the tracks.

Peregrine falcons are not typically seen in Jasper, although they sometimes migrate through the area for a short time in the spring and fall. An adult falcon is about the size of a crow, and feeds almost completely on other birds ranging from sparrows to pigeons to even large ducks.

Bradley said when young falcons are in the nest, they usually have enough fat stored to last a couple of weeks, then they would start growing muscles and feathers. “Perhaps there’s not a great chance it’s still alive, but there is still some,” he said.

Anyone who sees the young peregrine falcon is asked to call Parks dispatch at 780-852-6155.