Busy weekend at downtown nest as 4 peregrine falcon chicks hatch
Last year, 2 chicks fledged at the Hamilton nest
It's falcon season in Hamilton again. On Saturday, four peregrine chicks hatched in a nest on the 18th floor of the downtown Sheraton hotel.
McKeever, the mother falcon nesting there since 2022, laid four eggs within about a week in late March. According to Falconwatch, the community group that monitors the nest, says this may be the first time they've recorded a mother's chicks all hatching within the same day.
Peregrines have nested at the hotel in Hamilton since at least 1995, and throughout that time, Falconwatch has supervised them using webcams and volunteers who track the birds as they learn to fly, ready to help if a bird is injured or gets stuck somewhere.
Pat Baker, a senior monitor with Falconwatch — formally the Hamilton Community Peregrine Project — said this year's chicks will be banded later this month. That's a process in which chicks are brought inside and have identifying markers attached to their legs for conservation purposes. Falconwatch has historically worked with the Toronto-based Canadian Peregrine Foundation to do that work.
At last year's banding, foundation head Mark Nash said because of monitoring efforts, researchers know urban peregrines are out-producing their rural counterparts.
"[Cities] can be and have been a very hospitable place for your peregrines … with a lot of support in-between," he said.
Peregrine falcons, the world's fastest animal, were once endangered in Ontario, largely because of the pesticide DDT. The bird of prey is now considered a species of special concern, meaning they could still be at risk but are not endangered.
Ontario's recovery strategy for the species includes promoting community monitoring by groups such as Hamilton's or one in Windsor. A Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks page cites a case in which an unnamed partner promoted a volunteer fledge watch and found those who participated "increased survival of young Peregrine Falcons from 47 to 79 per cent in one year."
Last year, McKeever and her mate Judson, successfully fledged two sisters: Blakeley, and Stinson. They had a third chick, Westdale, who died from an illness in May before she could fly.
Before that, they fledged eight more: Auchmar, Balfour, Dundurn, Wynnstay, Delta, Gibson, Kirkendall and Stipley.
Born in Windsor, Ont., on the Ambassador Bridge in 2019, McKeever is named after Kay McKeever of the Owl Foundation. Based in Vineland, Ont., that charitable organization helps owls and other birds of prey who are injured or orphaned.
Judson arrived in Hamilton in 2021. He fledged in Buffalo, New York, in 2018, and is the grandson of Madame X and Surge, who nested on the Sheraton for 13 and nine years, respectively.
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