The Evanston Public Library is excited to welcome our new baby falcon chick into the world.
The chick was hatched on May 14 – just in time for Mother’s Day – in a scrape under the eaves of the Main Library.
On Friday, June 9, EPL and our partners at the Field Museum’s Chicago Peregrine Program will host a banding and announce the name of our baby chick and its mama at 10:30 a.m. on the third floor of the Main Library. The public is welcome to join us and watch as Mary Hennen, Director of the Chicago Peregrine Program at The Field Museum, bands the young peregrine falcon. The chick will be removed from the nest, brought inside, and then returned to the nest after the banding is done, and Hennen will answer questions from the audience.
Watch the livestream of the event on Zoom! Register here.
The Library is also accepting nominations for names for both the unnamed female and the chick. Falcon fans are encouraged to submit their name ideas, and the names of the two birds will be announced at the banding.
Peregrine falcons have been nesting on the Main Library since 2004, a welcome sight after the species were nearly eradicated by pesticides in the mid-twentieth century. The species has made an incredible rebound thanks to regulation of pollutants, programs like the Chicago Peregrine Project, and the work of volunteers like the birders of the Evanston Peregrine Falcon Watch. Peregrines are fast fliers and can reach speeds of up to 69 mph when directly pursuing prey.
The current couple, a male named Coach Kevin and an unnamed female, laid three eggs this season, one of which successfully hatched and is growing rapidly in the scrape. Watch the birds live at epl.org/falconcam.
For more information on our falcons, visit epl.org/falcons.
