They were discovered almost by accident during some maintenance work. Giò and Giulia are a pair of peregrine falcons that live and nest on the roof of the Pirelli skyscraper, the famous "Pirellone" in Milan. Their names were chosen in homage to Gio Ponti, the skyscraper's designer, and his wife Giulia Vimercati. They are peregrine falcons, a species famous for being the fastest animal on the planet in a dive, capable of exceeding 300 km/h. The Pirellone, approximately 125 meters high, offers them an ideal perch for hunting, especially pigeons and starlings, above the city.
Gio and Giulia's day is very busy. Morning and late afternoon are the busiest times for hunting. They take flight over Milan, using the air currents to patrol the area. From there, they primarily spot pigeons and other city birds: when they choose one, they can swoop down at high speed to capture it out of the air.
During the middle of the day, however, they tend to remain quieter. Often, one of the pair stays near the nest to guard it, while the other may be in flight or perched on tall structures of the skyscraper. During this time, they also devote themselves to preening, a process essential for keeping their feathers in tip-top condition.
If there are eggs or chicks, much of the day revolves around their care: incubation, protection from the sun or wind, and feeding the chicks with caught prey.
The evening brings another period of activity: they may go on further hunting trips or simply return to the nest to rest together, often next to each other, ready to repeat the same pattern the next day.
There are three main reasons why they remain permanently on the Pirelli Tower:
1. Food is plentiful and easy to hunt
Milan offers a wealth of prey, especially pigeons and starlings. For a predator like the peregrine falcon, this means an "open supermarket": they don't have to travel far to feed.
2. A perfect and safe nest
The skyscraper's heights mimic the natural rock faces that falcons would use in the mountains. Furthermore, the artificial nest installed on the Pirellone is stable, protected, and difficult to reach by predators or disturbances.
3. An increasingly urban species
The peregrine falcon is one of the birds of prey best adapted to cities. In many European and Italian cities, some pairs now reside year-round: they don't migrate because they find the climate relatively stable and resources constant.
In practice, for Giò and Giulia, leaving Milan would have no advantages: they have food, safety, and a perfect nesting site without having to face the risks and uncertainty of migration.
The pair of peregrine falcons that live on the Pirelli skyscraper are monitored by a system of cameras installed on the skyscraper's roof to observe their nest and the stages of nesting.
These webcams are primarily used for scientific and conservation purposes: they allow us to study the behavior of the falcons, monitor egg-laying, chick growth, and predation or disturbance events, but they also allow us to follow the lives of Giò and Giulia from home.
Photo taken from www.ilsudmilano.it
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