Watch CBS News

Game Commission Removes 4 Peregrine Falcon Chicks From Downtown Nest

Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Four peregrine falcon chicks were removed from a Downtown Pittsburgh building on Tuesday.

According to Humane Animal Rescue officials, the chicks were removed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission around 9 a.m. They are now in the care of licensed wildlife rehabilitators at the Humane Animal Rescue Wildlife Center in Verona.

peregrine falcon chicks
(Photo Credit: Humane Animal Rescue Wildlife Center)

"They have a lot of experience. They have raised other peregrines and rehabilitated injured ones multiple times over the years," Game Commission Conservation Officer Dan Puhala said.

BET Investments got a permit to have the chicks removed from their development on Third Avenue because of issues with the falcon parents interfering with construction.

The move was going to happen last week, but the state Game Commission wanted more time to carefully plan the transfer. The chicks were thoroughly examined. Now they are resting comfortably in an incubator.

"All four of them are healthy," said Jill Argall, the director of the Wildlife Center. "They have some parasites, which is normal and to be expected, but that's all something we can treat.

"They have good appetites, they just ate for us."

The falcons will spend some time at the rescue center, but won't have much contact with humans.

"Now we just work to help them develop and grow," Argall said. "But we don't want them to get too used to people so we are using puppets (and whatnot), that way they are not seeing the people bringing them food. We want them to stay wild."

The goal is to make their lives as normal as possible, like any bird of prey.

"As they get a little bit older, they go into a bigger enclosure, and work their way up to our flight cage," Argall said. "It is a very large building where they can hunt and they can fly and build their muscles so that they will be ready to be released."

The Game Commission will decide when and where the falcons are released, after they are full grown.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.