Peregrine Falcon Eggs Hatch at Capitol

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NGPC news release, 5/14/09:

LINCOLN, Neb. – Three of the four peregrine falcon eggs at the Nebraska State Capitol hatched earlier this week, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

The female peregrine falcon laid the eggs in early April and the pair had been incubating the clutch over the past month. The eggs began hatching early Tuesday and by Wednesday morning it appeared there were three chicks present in the nest box located on the 18th floor of the building. It is not known if the fourth egg has hatched or whether it will. Birds occasionally lay infertile eggs.

All the activity was seen from the Commission’s FalconCam, a video camera mounted at the top of the Capitol. Activity will increase as the adults feed the hungry chicks. The Webcam provides streaming video to a television in the Capitol rotunda and to the Commission’s Web site at OutdoorNebraska.org.

Chicks are nearly blind and unable to regulate their body temperature in the first days following hatching. The adult birds will cover and warm the chicks nearly continuously. At five days, each chick’s mass is expected to nearly double and its eyes will open regularly. As the chicks develop, the adults increasingly will leave the chicks on their own as they spend more time hunting prey. The chicks will require more food as they develop and will not be capable of flight until they are more than 40 days old.

This is the fourth year the peregrine pair successfully hatched eggs. If the pair successfully raises young, they will be banded and the “name the chick” contest will take place.

Peregrine falcons almost disappeared from the lower 48 states following World War II because of eggshell thinning caused by the pesticide DDT. In 1970, the falcon was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Recovery efforts, including the release of falcons at tall buildings in urban areas, were successful. By the late 1990s, peregrine falcon numbers recovered and the species was removed from the list of endangered species in 1999.

The following is a link to the FalconCam: ngpc.state.ne.us/wildlife/webcam/peregrine/default.asp.