Two peregrine falcon chicks got a medical checkup and were fitted with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service leg bands Tuesday morning.
The chicks are less than a month old. Their parents Hope and Terzo have been nesting on the 40th floor of the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning for the past four years.
Although no longer listed on the federal endangered species list, peregrine falcons were classified as an endangered species in Pennsylvania until last fall when they were upgraded to “threatened” as a result of their growing population. There are currently eight nesting pairs in the Pittsburgh region, all of them residing on man-made structures.
Peregrine falcons can live 12 to 15 years in the wild. Females usually lay three to five eggs each year.
