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SALT LAKE CITY — It is officially falcon season, and we don't mean Atlanta football.
Falcons' eggs are beginning to hatch, and a soon-to-be mother of four welcomed two chicks Sunday that hatched in a nest box located in Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown Salt Lake City.
The mother is curently waiting for her two other eggs to hatch, which Bob Walters, Watchable Wildlife Coordinator for the Department of Wildlife Resources says could happen this evening.
A live feed of the newly hatched chicks, their parents and the two unhatched eggs can be viewed at www.wildlife.utah.gov/peregrine .
Known as amazing and sometimes carnivorous hunters due to their occasional appetite for pigeons, and as the fastest species on the planet with the ability to dive at speeds up to 200 mph, it's hard to believe that these fierce creatures can be so awe-inducing, both in ferocity and cuteness.
It is no surprise that they've found the tall downtown building as their nesting spot, especially because falcons tend to nest on ledges and cliffs, often returning to familiar nesting spots each year.
It is most likely that the newborns will undergo flight training, as so many have before them, through the Salt Lake City Peregrine Falcon Watchpost Team members.
Due to their previously endangered status up until 1999, falcons are protected under the Utah State Code and the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
