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(FOX40.COM) — A pair of peregrine falcons have returned to their roost on the roof of UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for the sixth year, according to UC Davis Health.
Tucked away from the hospital’s helipad, a covered roost was built in 2016, and the pair that returned this month has four eggs.
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It seems that these apex predictor birds picked a good spot to call home as UC Davis Health procurement supervisor William “Bill” Corbett is also the hospital’s unofficial resident falcon expert.
According to Corbett, the hospital’s roost has seen 18 successful egg hatches from two sets of males and females. On average, the UC Davis falcons lay three to four eggs.
“I think what is cool is that we view something that only happened on remote cliffs, and sightings of peregrine falcons used to be rare,” Corbett said in an article by UC Davis Health.
One of the headline features of these raptors is their ability to hit a top speed of 200 mph in flight, making them the fastest animal in the world.
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Unlike most birds that build nests, the peregrine falcon lays their eggs in shallow clefts on the edge of high cliffs.
As man-made objects have continued to soar higher, peregrines have begun using bridges and buildings to roost, creating a population of urban falcons.
According to Corbett and UC Davis Health, these urban falcons have a 50% survival rate in their first year of life as they face injury, illness and other predators.
“I have had to recover six wayward youngsters who flew too soon and were stranded on the ground,” Corbett continues. “One year was especially sad when two of the birds had accidents and could not be saved, and this is not unusual because the first year of a peregrine falcon is full of danger.”
To keep an eye on the falcons while maintaining a safe distance, a camera providing a live feed of the birds was installed.
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