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A Look Inside A Peregrine Falcon Nest In Downtown St. Paul

ST. PAUL (WCCO) -- Last week, WCCO-TV showed you an eagle chick removed from the nest and then accepted back by his parents when he was returned. On Wednesday, we got to take pictures of three peregrine falcon chicks in their nest box, in downtown St. Paul.

Twenty-six stories above city streets, on the top of the Bremmer bank tower, Lori Naumann from the DNR is checking on peregrine falcon chicks.

When she opens the side of the nest box, she is face-to-face with the babies' mom, guarding her offspring.

"Mom hatched the first one on Saturday of last week and the third one hatched on Monday. There is still an egg left in the box, but I think that one probably won't hatch because it's been a few days, so it's probably not fertile," said Naumann.

The chicks' parents have been in this nest box for 11 years, hatching babies every spring. These chicks will grow rapidly over the next few weeks.

"They will fledge at about 35 days, which means that's about the time they will leave the box and learn how to fly on their own. They'll hang around mom and dad for a long time to learn how to hunt and find food and how to protect themselves at night," said Naumann.

Meanwhile, at the Hutchinson eagle nest, the web cam shows another thriving chick being fed by doting parents. The baby was removed when he got caught in the nest, checked out by the raptor center, and then returned.

No one was sure the adult eagles would resume feeding him, but after 27 hours, they did.

"He's got a full crop all the time, to the point where some days he's just doing a face-plant because his crop is so full, so yeah, all is well today," said Naumann.

To see the baby peregrine on web cam, click here.

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