Hotel, foundation hatch webcam plan to keep chicks safe

By Richard Holt –

What was once an urban phenomenon is now an annual tradition thanks to the Canadian Peregrine foundation.

On June 12, two peregrine falcon chicks were banded at the Toronto Sheraton Centre Hotel.

The fledglings, which nest on the forty-third floor of the hotel, were named Kevin and Dina after CITY-TV on-air personalities Kevin Frankish and Dina Pugliese, who participated in the event.

This is the fifth year that falcons have been banded at the hotel.

It’s only the tenth year where falcons have been observed to nest in Downtown high-rise buildings.

Another pair of falcons has been nesting atop the building at 18 King St. E. since 1995 and produce offspring each year.

Banding is a long established procedure by the provincial and federal wildlife resources to band the young peregrine with leg bands in an effort to assist with management and migration and monitoring of the young birds.

Mark Nash, director of the foundation, explains that after the baby falcons are banded, ”they spend about 45 days at the nest prior to them taking their maiden flight.

“They are young and overweight and because of this excessive weight, and since they have never flown before, end up coming to the ground. On the ground they are unable to gain altitude again and the foundation has been actively involved in monitoring and performing the services of a ‘Fledge watch’ at all the urban nest sites.

“Our purpose,” Nash continues, “is to work with the ministry of natural resources and rescue these baby fledglings, check them over for any obvious signs of injury and after they have been checked out we bring them back to the rooftops to repeat that scenario. We are rescuing birds from the sidewalks or roadways two or three times during their first flights.”

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and recovery of endangered birds of prey. They work with many partners who assist them with this program. One sponsor is the Sheraton Hotel. Hotel rep Cynthia Bond explains why the hotel is involved.

“Sheraton is proud to be foster parents of the baby falcons. In addition to giving donations, we also monitor the webcams for the falcons, and from a hotel perspective we do not allow our window washers to go anywhere near the nest when the mother is on the nest or when the baby falcons are waiting to take flight.”

Bond continues, “When we were first notified that the birds were in the building we were delighted to work with the ministry of natural resources to ensure the birds’ well-being.

“When you look at the volunteers at the foundation and see the people putting so much passion into this how can you not become involved? It’s something very special to have the birds in an urban landscape.”

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation also held a banding on June 4 at the Mississauga Executive Centre site. There are other urban sites in Etobicoke and Scarborough where they are waiting for the birds to “reclutch.”

These birds failed in their first attempt to hatch eggs but if they are successful in this “reclutch” and hatching there may be another banding event in August.