Urban canyons host peregrine falcons
Uptown Theater is "home sweet home" for family of peregrines
Above: An adult peregrine falcon feeds its young living on an old fire escape in the city of Chicago. Below left: The two young peregrines wait for their parents to return with food. Below right: This is an overall photograph of their nesting site. The arrow points to one of the birds perching on the hand rail. Photographs by Kanae Hirabayashi.
This series of three photos shows a family of peregrine falcons living on a back fire escape of the Uptown Theater in Chicago. Photographer Kanae Hirabayashi observed them in this location last year and returned again for photos in June 2002. Here are her observations:
"Again this year, the couple nested at the same old building, the Uptown Theater. According to the Peregrine protection group's reports, they had three eggs and two were hatched around May 20. Now they are almost 35 days old. Already, they are flapping wings and exercising. I was told they will fledge at 40 to 42 days. Only a week or so to go."
Peregrine Family Final Performance at Uptown Theater, July 4, 2002
These three photographs show the young peregrine falcons testing their wings and preparing for test flights from the Uptown Theater on July 4, 2002. Note how they have changed from the photos at the top of the page. Photographer Kanae Hirabayashi reports that the family was not seen on Friday morning the 5th. She calls these photos the "Final Performance" at the Uptown.
More Urban Cliff-Dwelling Peregrines
Another family of peregrine falcons made its home on the ledge of different building in downtown Chicago in these photos taken by Pete Redmon.
This picture shows four nestling peregrine falcons and their mother (far left) at home on a building ledge in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Tall buildings can substitute for the cliffs peregrine falcons prefer, although they may nest in hollow trees. Naturalists believe the Mississippi River bluffs remain the best potential habitat for peregrines in Illinois.
photograph courtesy of Pete Redmon, USEPA.