Peregrine falcons protecting chicks, dive-bombing pedestrians
A pair of parent falcons are raising three chicks along Chicago’s busy Wacker Drive, and beware of any pedestrians venturing too close to their nests. Ask Chuck Valauskas, who was attacked by one of the falcons. One day last week, the patent attorney was leaving work, walking beneath a nest on the ledge on the seventh floor when he felt a thud overhead. “I thought, ‘What is that?’ It’s like a 16-inch softball,” Valauskas told the Chicago Sun-Times. He suffered a 1-inch slit on his head and is now completely out of the way below the nest. Since then, he has been vaccinated against tetanus to be safe. The building’s security guard said at least one other person was entangled in the birds. Watch out for the falcon. The parents will attack to protect the young on the ledge of the building. Take a different route.” From the window facing the nest on the 10th floor, Ruben Guardiola watched the falcons for several weeks, noticing that the raptors became aggressive towards passers-by behind. when their chicks hatched last week. “Look at the building. It’s built for” birds, says Guardiola. “No people, no predators.” Falcons have nested every spring at the building since at least 2016, Mary Hennen, who stands. The peregrine falcon can reach speeds in excess of 200 mph (321.87 km per hour), said head of the peregrine program at the Field Museum in Chicago. “It’s just a mother bird protecting her chicks,” says Hennen, “Their reflex is to lunge at you. The purpose is to scare you.”
A pair of parent falcons are raising three chicks along Chicago’s busy Wacker Drive, and beware of any pedestrians venturing too close to their nests.
Just ask Chuck Valauskas, who was attacked by one of the falcons. One day last week, the patent attorney was leaving work, walking beneath a nest on the ledge on the seventh floor when he felt his head pound.
“I thought, ‘What is that?’ It’s like a 16-inch softball,” Valauskas told Chicago Sun Times.
He suffered a 1-inch incision on his head and has now completely avoided the path below the nest. Since then have been vaccinated against tetanus to be safe.
Building security said at least one other person was attacked by birds.
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The building management posted two signs that read: “Warning! Watch out for falcons. Parents will attack to protect babies on the building’s ledge. Take a different route. “
From the window facing the nest on the 10th floor, Ruben Guardiola watched the falcons for several weeks. He noticed the raptors became aggressive towards passersby after their chicks hatched last week.
“Look at the building. It was built for” the birds, said Guardiola. “No people, no predators.”
Mary Hennen, head of the peregrine program at Chicago’s Field Museum, said falcons have nested every spring at the building since at least 2016.
She said the birds this year have nested low enough for them to become aggressive towards pedestrians below.
The Peregrine Falcon can reach speeds in excess of 200 mph (321.87 km per hour) when diving.
“It’s just a mother protecting her,” Hennen said. “Their reflex is to swoop at you. That’s on purpose, to scare you.”
The falcons can leave in a few days or weeks, she says, as soon as the chicks learn to fly.
