Annie, the beloved peregrine falcon living atop the UC Berkeley clock tower, has a new mate. Now, her new mate needs a new name.
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Cal Falcons, the group monitoring Annie and Grinnell – her former mate who was killed last week – since they arrived on the campus in 2017, announced on Wednesday the nine possible names for "New Guy," the male falcon who mated with Annie not long after Grinnell was killed.
"People were very affected by Grinnell's death, and heartened by his replacement with a new male," Mary Malec, a raptor nest monitor with Cal Falcons, said on Wednesday's episode of KCBS Radio's "Bay Current." "He showed up the same day Grinnell died."
Cal Falcons sought submissions for the name last week, requiring the moniker to relate to the university in some way. You can vote here for your favorite among the nine options, as seen in the Twitter thread embedded below, until Sunday, April 18 at 12 p.m.
Annie and the unnamed male mated within 24 hours of meeting earlier this month. Cal Falcons, however, needed a bit more convincing before granting the male a moniker.
They got it when he and Annie performed head bow displays and copulated, and he has helped incubate her three eggs as well. He’s hunting for her meals, too, according to the scientists.
"What surprised us was how quickly he took on parental duties," Sean Peterson, an ornithologist, told UC Berkeley's website last week. "It is very rare to see this happen; the most likely result of a dead member of a breeding pair is clutch abandonment."
Grinnell's death, meanwhile, remains a mystery. It's possible he was grounded by another falcon before a car struck him, or a car hit him while he was swooping close to the ground. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife couldn't conduct a full forensic examination because his body was too badly damaged, the scientists said.
Members of the university community have left tributes to Grinnell in a makeshift memorial at the base of Sather Tower, including flowers and a Cal Falcons shirt. Still, campus is warming to Grinnell's successor, whose injured left leg and dark plumage atop his head give him a distinct look as he flies around Berkeley.
"He kind of gives you something positive to fixate on, which is nice, but it's still hard to say goodbye to Grinnell," Peterson told the website.
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