Baby Peregrine Falcons Ready to Fly From Shook Nest

A new family of baby peregrine falcons are just about ready to fly from their nesting box on the roof of the Kansas City offices of Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Officials from the Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services visited the nest June 3, 2019, to place identification bands on the four chicks, giving a small group of Shook staff members a rare chance to observe the process.

In 2016, Joe DeBold, urban wildlife biologist for the Department of Conservation, approached Shook about installing a nesting box on the building’s roof; during this year’s visit, he talked to Shook Training Coordinator Shaley Moore about the falcons and the successful efforts that have been made to preserve the species. DeBold and other officials also gave Shook employees a chance to hold the chicks and learn more about them.

Last year, three chicks hatched and migrated north; DeBold said this year’s four will fledge in the next few weeks and leave the nest, too. Until next spring, officials and building staff will leave the nest alone to minimize disturbance and reassure the parents that it is safe to return. 

Additional nesting boxes are located in the Kansas City area, including at the American Century Towers on the Plaza and a Kansas City Power & Light plant in Weston, Missouri.


Videos courtesy of Shaley Moore and the Shook Learning and Development staff.