Sheraton falcons are parents to four chicks
Big Mother’s Day for downtown Hamilton birds and birdwatchers
It was a busy Mother’s Day morning for McKeever and Judson.
The new peregrine falcon residents of the 18th-floor ledge nest at the downtown Sheraton Hotel Hamilton found themselves needing to feed four newborn chicks, all born within about 24 hours.
“After a bit of trial and error yesterday, McKeever figured out the perfect size of morsel to feed her young,” wrote excited Hamilton Community Peregrine Project team members on their news feed.
Falconwatch cameras caught the four hatchings starting Friday evening, when the first egg started to crack, into early Sunday morning when the youngest chick was spotted.
Mom McKeever and Judson are the first peregrine parents at the downtown nest, since former residents Lily and Ossie welcomed two chicks in 2020.
Falconwatch volunteers expected the chicks this week, near the end of the month-long gestation period, as McKeever laid her first eggs in late March.
As early as May 3, volunteers noticed an “increased amount of fussing” by McKeever and Judson, expecting that the eggs were ready to hatch. Now that the chicks have emerged, Hamilton Falconwatch says they will need plenty of eyes on the skies.
“We’re going to need lots of volunteers,” they wrote, “to keep an eye on all these chicks as they fly around the downtown area in June and July.”
They’ve asked would-be volunteers to go to falcons.hamiltonnature.org/hcppvolunteer.htm soon and sign up, as orientation and training will happen soon. This spring, peregrine falcons were voted Hamilton’s top bird as part of a successful effort to achieve a “Bird Friendly City” designation from Nature Canada.