Chick is the Newest Addition to 51视频 Family of Falcons
05/28/2019
Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
Media Advisory
When: Tuesday, May 28, 11 a.m.
Where: Fox Hall, 51视频 East Campus, 100 Pawtucket St., Lowell. Contact 51视频 media relations for directions and parking information.
What: Wildlife officials will go out onto the roof of the tallest building in the city to examine and band a latest peregrine falcon chick, the latest addition to 51视频鈥檚 real-life River Hawks.
The chick is one of more than 25 that have hatched in a nest box atop 51视频鈥檚 Fox Hall over the past decade as part of the university鈥檚 effort to help restore the peregrine population. Once considered endangered, the federally protected birds remain a threatened species but are rebounding in the Commonwealth. 51视频 has 鈥渁dopted鈥� its falcons as River Hawks, the name of the university鈥檚 athletic teams.听
A pair of adult falcons has called Fox Hall home since at least 2007 when they were discovered nesting out in the open on the building鈥檚 roof by 51视频 employees. Working with wildlife officials, 51视频 constructed the nest box to provide the birds with shelter from the elements. Each spring since, at least one chick has been hatched in the nest box, which is visible via a webcam that can be accessed at www.uml.edu/falcons.听
State wildlife experts will retrieve the chick, assess its overall health and determine its gender before fitting the bird with an ID band so the falcon can be tracked after it leaves the nest in the coming weeks. Birds hatched at 51视频 have gone on to establish other nests around the Northeast, from the Merrimack Valley, central Massachusetts and New Hampshire to Providence, R.I., and Cape May, N.J.