That’s two newborn baby falcons just after hatching beneath their mom Annie atop the Berkeley Campanile on Monday morning, and two more little hatchlings are expected to bust out of their shells in the days to come.
It is now late April, when SFist readers’ fancy turns to those baby falcon eggs getting ready to hatch, broadcast live on the Cal Falcons Nest Cam atop the UC Berkeley Campanile. And on Earth Day 2024, April 22 at around 8 am, the first of this year’s four baby falcons hatched.
At least one chick is celebrating Earth Day with a Birthday! Annie and Archie's first chick just hatched a few minutes ago. A second egg has a very substantial pip, so seems to be making good progress. pic.twitter.com/uZDx1WoJhG
— CalFalconCam (@CalFalconCam) April 22, 2024
As seen below, a second one hatched at around 10:30 am Monday. They are a wet, sloppy mess at first. And mother Annie does not want to get off the newborns, as they need their warmth in those first crucial couple hours after hatching.
an alien emerges :D pic.twitter.com/q2wf9sj1Ni
— languid and bittersweet bisexuals (@minebyrights) April 22, 2024
“The chick will dry off quickly and its down feathers will turn into a warm, cozy pile of fluff,” the folks at the Berkeley Falcon Cam explain. “Annie will occasionally nibble on egg shells. It helps her regain the calcium she used to create the egg (which is leached from her bones)."
The chicks’ transformation into warm, cozy piles of fluff happens quickly! SFist happened to be staring at the Cal Falcons Nest Cam livestream when the two hatchlings got their first feeding at about 3 pm Monday, and we got a look at what these five-hour-old chicks have already grown into.
Obviously, we are going to embed way too many of these photos in this post, because these images are unbelievable… and very cute!
And check out proud father Archie bringing the chicks their first meal.
You can watch the Cal Falcons Nest Cam livestream online, though not usually much happens this early in the chicks’ lives, except for one of their parents sitting on them. But you may also encounter a really magic moment should luck cooperate.
Again, two more baby falcons will hatch in the days to come. As Berkeleyside reminds us, there will be a Wednesday big-screen watch party on the outdoor screen at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) from 9 am to 7 pm Wednesday at Oxford and Addison streets in Berkeley.
Note: This is a developing story and may be updated if more baby falcon chicks hatch today.
Related: Berkeley Falcon Annie Has, Yet Again, Taken a New Mate, Naming Contest to Come [SFist]
Image: Berkeley Falcon Cam
