One of the three peregrine falcon chicks in downtown Topeka died Tuesday night, a Westar Energy spokesman said Wednesday.
In a news posting on the company's website, Westar spokesman Nicholas Bundy said the male chick apparently jumped from its box between 8 and 9 p.m. and didn't survive the 10-story fall.
"We're unsure as to what caused it to jump out of the box," Bundy said.
Bundy said the chick's condition was fine Monday when it was banded. The most dangerous period for peregrines, he said, is from hatching until the falcons are a year old.
The parents of the three falcon chicks that were hatched in May, Nemaha and Boreas, came in April to Topeka from Nebraska. The pair took over the nesting spot on the south side of the Westar Energy building at 818 S. Kansas Ave.
Another falcon couple, Hope and Doorly, had nested at the site since 2004.
