A peregrine falcon nests inside a We Energies nesting box at Oak Creek Power Plant, March 25, 2025. (Image courtesy of WPS and We Energies)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The theme for this year’s WPS and We Energies peregrine falcon chick naming contest is a nod to past and the future.
For more than 30 years, WPS and We Energies have been working to restore the peregrine falcon population in Wisconsin. This year, the company is naming the next generation of chicks after the falcons that came before them.
The Founding Feathers theme goes back into the archives to find some of the legendary peregrine falcons who once nested at the utility companies’ power plants over the past three decades.
The names with the most votes will be given to the falcon chicks that hatch at Wisconsin Public WPS and We Energies power plants this spring.
The list of names
- Atlanta — Atlanta was born at the former Pulliam Power Plant in 1996. She settled at the Oak Creek Power Plant in 1999 and produced 41 chicks in her 12 years there.
- Beasley — Beasley nested in Port Washington from 2017 to 2025. He was born at the former We Energies Milwaukee County Power Plant in 2014.
- Beth — Beth nested at the Pulliam Power Plant from 2006-2013. She raised 25 chicks.
- Breezer — Breezer was the resident female falcon at the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant from 1999 to 2008. She produced 31 chicks.
- Brinn — Brinn came to Port Washington from Minnesota in 2014 and raised 30 chicks in 11 years.
- Eclipse — Eclipse was the female falcon at the Oak Creek Power Plant from 2011 to 2017. She was born in Ohio in 2009.
- Flaps — Flaps was born in Green Bay in 1998. She produced 23 chicks in Port Washington from 2000 to 2006.
- Hercules — Hercules was born in 2011 in Milwaukee. He nested at the Valley Power Plant from 2014 to 2023 and raised 23 chicks.
- Icon — Icon was born in 2004 in Ohio and raised 17 chicks in her five years in Port Washington.
- Ives — Ives was born in 2004 at the Edgewater Generating Station in Sheboygan before settling in Port Washington in 2007 and raising 33 chicks over 10 years.
- Leopold — Leopold was born in captivity and released at the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant in 1992. He kicked off the falcon program and raised 42 chicks over the course of his life.
- Maya — Maya was born at the Weston Power Plant in 2006 before settling at the Valley Power Plant and raising eight chicks.
- Michael — Michael was born in Racine in 2015 and produced 23 chicks in his seven years in Oak Creek.
- PBR — PBR was born in 2009 at the Miller Brewery nest box and spent seven years in Pleasant Prairie.
- Presque — Presque is in honor of the unbanded male falcon who raised 22 chicks at the former Presque Isle Power Plant in the Upper Peninsula between 2011 and 2018.
- Rosalee — Rosalee settled at the Weston Power Plant. She raised 19 chicks between 2016 and 2021.
- Scott — Scott nested in Oak Creek for 11 years. He raised 28 chicks between 2006 and 2016.
- Scout — Scout was raised in captivity and released from the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant in 1992. She settled in Indiana and raised 23 chicks.
- Swede — Swede was born at the former Pulliam Power Plant in 1999. He spent eight years at the Valley Power Plant and raised 14 chicks.
- Thilmany — Thilmany was born in 2009 and raised 20 chicks in his six years in Pleasant Prairie.
You can vote as many times as you want between now and Thursday, May 8, to make sure your favorite names make the cut.
Last year’s theme was Olympic medalists with Wisconsin ties.
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