Four baby falcons, 43 storeys and an 80 per cent death rateIn a chorus of squawks, four fluffy falcon chicks were introduced to the city Tuesday on the 43rd floor of the downtown Sheraton Hotel.
The newest additions to Toronto’s growing peregrine population — Sunshine, Cinnamon, William and Kate (yes, our very own Royal Couple), each a frightened bundle of white down — announced their presence with ceaseless chirping.
“They’re magnificent,” said Joyce Miller, who made the trip from Rochester, N.Y., to see the newborns.
The baby peregrine falcons, or eyasses, are the progeny of Ria (sp)-May(sp) and Tiago, the Sheraton’s rooftop couple. Ria-May was born in Rochester, while Tiago is a local boy.
The chicks, all born in the last three weeks, were “banded” — fitted with tiny anklets which allow both the U.S. and Canadian wildlife services to monitor them — by Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources, with help from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation.
“It’s like a SIN card,” said foundation director Mark Nash, adding the ankle bands do not harm or inconvenience the birds.
The newborn chicks will be entirely dependent on their parents for the next two and half months, but around their 40th day they will attempt their first flight. That’s when Nash and his devoted volunteers will carry out what he calls the foundation’s primary function: “fledge watching.”
Uncoordinated and naĂŻve, the flutter feebly in the wind and often crash to the ground in their early attempts to fly.
So from dawn until dusk, “fledge watchers” will babysit from below. They will watch for spiralling nose-divers, attend to the wounded and generally protect the chicks from ground-level dangers until they can confidently flap and glide on their own. By doing so, they hope to reduce the birds’ 80 per cent infant mortality rate.
Thirty years ago, there was not a single peregrine falcon in Ontario, according to Nash, who said that pesticides, especially DDT, nearly wiped out the species. Ontario is now home to more than 80 of the predatory birds. More than 16 couples live in the Greater Toronto Area and its environs.
The Sheraton and its rooftop nest have played host to a number of mating falcons since the late 1990s.
While the downtown core may seem a perilous place for the birds, they in fact thrive in urban environments. A skyscraper ledge acts as a cliffside perch and unsuspecting pigeons provide ample nourishment.
Toronto’s other beloved peregrine couple — Quest and Kendal, who met, serendipitously, across from Harlequin’s North York headquarters earlier this year — could soon be parents. The couple’s first egg is expected to hatch next weekend. 
Kate is one of four tiny falcon chicks that live atop the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto. The four were banded today by the Canadian Peregrine Foundation and Ministry of Natural Resources, and can be watched 24 hours a day on the Internet.
Toronto Star
http://thestar.blogs.com/photoblog/2011/05/up-close-and-personnel-with-the-chicks.html meet the chicks
