Newly hatched peregrine falcon chicks starting life at Eberhard Center

The Eberhard Center is once again home to a peregrine falcon family.

Three chicks hatched early on April 28 in the specially designed nesting box. Images at one point captured the hatchlings all vying for a parent's attention as a fourth egg remained next to them.

"Sometimes that last egg can take a day or more to hatch," said Michael Lombardo, professor of biology.

The first egg was spotted mid-March. Starting a few days ago, the watch was on for hatching.

The nesting box was installed by Todd Aschenbach, associate professor of biology, and a team of students in 2009. Webcams followed in 2010. But it wasn't until 2017 that a pair of falcons finally used the box as intended.

"It just takes time," Aschenbach said. "If you ever put up nesting structures, they have to find it and they have to like it. It's the same thing with a bat house or a birdhouse."

Once these raptors successfully breed at a box, they are likely to return, Lombardo said. Observers believe this pair had used the box before.

This hatching is even more significant for the area because some key structures for peregrine falcon nesting -- power plant towers -- have been taken out of use along the lakeshore, Lombardo noted. Peregrine falcons generally use cliffs, buildings, bridges and smokestacks as nest sites.

While the webcam has shown the newly hatched chicks finding cover under a parent's protective wing, they don't stay dependent on their parents for long, Lombardo said. The babies will soon start exercising their wings in preparation for becoming the fierce predators whose swoop for prey, typically birds, can top 200 mph.

They fledge in a little over a month and become independent shortly afterward. "They are expert flyers right away," Lombardo said.

Though the time to watch them is fleeting, Aschenbach is grateful for the webcams that show the nesting period, providing an up-close perspective as well as public awareness about these birds that are listed as an endangered species in Michigan.

Also, he added: "They're cute. Those nestlings are little white balls of fluff."