The state Department of Natural Resources has banded three peregrine falcon chicks living in a nesting box atop Spartan Stadium at Michigan State University.
Two rare peregrine falcons have made a home on the MSU campus, and their three babies are growing quickly.
DNR wildlife biologist Chad Fedewa says the DNR has been banding peregrines for many years.
“The research helps us, kind of, track survival rates and movement patterns of the birds across the state and across the country,” he explained.
Fedewa says removing the chicks went quickly. They were whisked away from their nest, taken inside Spartan Stadium and banded, then returned to the nesting box, all within about thirty minutes.
The parents can get aggressive while protecting the chicks, so he wore protective gear.
“They’ll fly around in circles and squawk at you, and kind of swoop down at you,” Fedewa said. "But we were able to get them out of the box really quickly. We took them inside the building to actually do the banding itself.”
MSU has a livestream to view the falcon nesting box at Spartan Stadium.