After a crisis of good intentions nearly drove the adults away, two peregrine falcon chicks are now in residence at one of Amsterdam’s best addresses: the tower of the Rijksmuseum.
The chicks were born about two weeks ago, but museum officials waited carefully to confirm the birth, which they were alerted to by changes in the adult birds’ behavior, carrying bits of meat to the nest and other behavior changes. Last week, the building manager visited the nest and confirmed that there were two chicks, snuggled close together.
It almost didn’t happen. Earlier in the year, the birds were spotted building a nest on the top of the tower, which museum officials said was a bad spot. They installed nesting boxes elsewhere on the tower, but at first the birds were having none of it. Apparently offended, they took off and started over at the nearby Westerkerk.
But then, a month before breeding season started, the pair returned to the museum and settled into one of the boxes. No video or cute pictures yet, but museum officials plan to install webcams before next year’s breeding season in hopes they will become permanent residents, as they have at six other Amsterdam buildings.
Image: Not the Rijksmuseum chicks; these are Californians…
Looks to me like the San Francisco chicks are ready to fly. Or you can just check the traffic situation on the Bay Bridge.https://www.pge.com/en_US/resi…regrine-falcons.page