As the University of Illinois Chicago sent off its graduating students in May, it gained new residents — four baby Peregrine falcons.
The baby birds hatched the first weekend of May, during the university’s commencement weekend, according to a school news release. Field Museum ornithologists Mary Hennen and Dylan Maddox tagged the Falcons later in the month, helping to keep track of the newest city falcons as part of larger research into falcon populations.
“It was like holding a newborn and realizing how special it is that these creatures call UIC their home,” UIC Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda, whose office shares the 28th floor with the birds, said in the statement. “You just felt all this hopeful possibility that this new life was in your hands, and we are going to do everything we can to make sure that they prosper.”
The fledglings are “doing well” so far, according to Judee Olechno, UIC’s director of special events.
“They’re very vocal, especially in the morning,” Olechno told the Sun-Times on Sunday.
Mouse and Loop, the happy parents, have made their nest at the school for more than a decade now, and another pair of falcons, along with their two chicks, live near the medical buildings on the west side of campus. The couples are just two of the 15 pairs of Peregrine falcons in the Chicago area.
The fledglings, two males and two females, won’t be named until they’re able to fly on their own, which is expected in the next week or two, according to Olechno. She had a barrier erected on the ledge near the nest a few years ago after several young falcons fell to their death before they were able to fly.
“Until they get the strength to hop up over [the barrier], they’re safe,” Olechno said. “They just look like they have a lot of fuzz left on them because their down feathers are still there in conjunction with their [developing] flight feathers.”
A live view of the falcons at UIC is available online, but the birds are tougher to see in person, and have to be viewed through a monitor even on the 28th floor so as not to upset their parents, Olechno said.
The newest additions to the family broke out of their shells just shy of a year after the school saw two hatchlings, males named Little and Italy, who were born to Mouse and Loop last May. Their names were inspired by the view out the 28th-floor windows.
The birds have an estimated lifespan of about 20 years. Peregrine falcons have been nesting at the school since 1999.