SAN JOSE, Calif., May 17 (UPI) -- A falcon fledgling born and raised on an 18th-floor ledge at San Jose, Calif., City Hall was killed during her first attempt to fly.
Unita was 40 days old when she plunged to the City Hall rotunda Sunday, the San Jose Mercury News reported. Glenn Stewart, a biologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz, said she apparently took flight in an effort to get to some food her mother was bringing back before her three brothers and before her feathers had completely formed.
"She wanted to be first for the food," Stewart said. "But her feathers weren't fully developed. She probably had another two inches of growth. She should have waited a few days."
The parent falcons, named Clara and Esteban Colbert, set up housekeeping at city hall in 2007. They rear their young with every move tracked by a Webcam, their names selected by San Jose school children, and are monitored and cared for by Stewart and a scientific team along with volunteer "Falconatics."
Stewart said learning to fly and especially to land is tough and at least two other young falcons have died during the fledging period.
"The fact is, only the strongest and luckiest survive to breed," Stewart said. "That's why these birds lay four eggs each year."
