Falcons in the city
- Debbie Lustig
- Nov 13
- 3 min read
One down, two to go. The first peregrine falcon nestling, hatched on top of 367 Collins Street, has left the nest. A female – one of two – fledged at 9:27 AM, Thursday 13 November, beginning a life in the air.
A worldwide audience has been watching the trio via a 24/7 live feed on YouTube, with 7.5 million views since season 2022 alone.
Cameras at both ends of the window ledge – 150 metres off the ground – have captured the falcons’ private lives from the time they laid their eggs.
The first chick hatched on 30 September, followed by its siblings.
The tiny falcon fluffballs peeped feebly and wiggled upwards, like blind worms reaching for the light. Their wings were so small, they looked like an afterthought.
At the time of writing, the nestlings now have striped wings almost a metre end-to-end.
The teenage falcons are as big as mum and dad but not quite able to manage on their own.
They spend their days stomping around on their yellow legs or flapping their wings in rapid bursts, like out-of-control fan blades. This builds pectoral muscles needed to achieve flight.
They preen tufts of down and shriek at their parents for ever-decreasing serves of pigeon.
This restriction is part of the peregrine plan, to coax their offspring into flight by lowering their weight.
What is it about these birds of prey that draws so many admirers?
Firstly, it’s nature. Most of us love wildlife and this is Wildness Lite – it’s nature made easy. The livestream is no further away than our phones.
Twenty-four hours a day, it shows these birds as we can never see them. They’re birds that hunt other birds at up to 300 km/hour and pull them apart to feed their chicks. It’s gory at times but you can’t help but be intrigued.
Second, they’re right here in our city. Not many people can view falcons in the wild but on the internet, they’re caring for their babies in full view.
You can even go to the CBD and see them. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch one or other parent take off and land, or circle slowly from Collins Street to Southgate, Queen Street to Treasury Gardens.
Peregrine falcon populations in Victoria are steady but classed as “vulnerable”. They’re not common, needing particular conditions to breed: a cliff or a big tree and access to prey birds. Or a 33-floor building with a ledge facing south-east!
Perhaps what endears them to us the most is their devotion to family.
From the moment they laid their speckled eggs and the helpless chicks emerged, the Collins falcons were clearly good parents.
They each hunted and fed their brood, tearing up unlucky pigeons and filling the chicks’ crops until at last, they went into food stupors.
Sadly, once they fledge, the cream-and-brown youngsters face the challenge of their lives, navigating the concrete and glass of the built environment. Cities are no place for inexperienced flyers.
Since 2021, in separate years, two fledglings have become trapped behind glass balconies, while one was found on the ground near the ledge building with severe injuries and had to be euthanised. Yet another was rescued near a Collins Street shoe shop.
Last year, one was killed in a collision with a steel rooftop beam. As a wildlife rescuer, I collected the corpse. There are some things no bird parent can prepare their kids for.
In this harsh world, only around a third of young falcons live to breeding age themselves.
If all three nestlings survive the next few months, they must leave Melbourne city as soon as they’ve caught their first meal. Peregrine parents are the original empty nesters, evicting their offspring months (or even weeks) post-fledge. The pantry of mum and dad will close forever and the trio will disperse to find territories of their own.
Unlike birds that cooperatively breed, the offspring are decidedly not welcome to help raise next year’s clutch. If they hang around, they may even be attacked.
Still, despite the dangers and the poor odds, most years, shiny new falcons take to the skies above the CBD. I am so glad they do.
May they be safe from building strike, may they find plenty to eat and may they rise to meet the sky on their scimitar wings.
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