Naming contest launched for 4 new falcon chicks that hatched on UC Berkeley bell tower
Four falcons that recently hatched at UC Berkeley's Campanile bell tower now need names.
The Cal Falcons group of scientists and volunteers that monitors the peregrine falcon nest atop the tower and shares footage of them is going to social media to encourage name submissions for the chicks.
The four new falcons -- two females and two males -- are in the nest of Annie, a female falcon that has lived in a nest atop the tower since 2016, and her new partner Archie. Annie has now had 22 chicks there and the names of the birds in prior years' contests usually tie somehow to UC Berkeley.
This year, organizers of the contest said the names of the four chicks should be connected by a theme. Nominations will be accepted until noon Sunday via Cal Falcons' profiles on Instagram, Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The Berkeley Public Library has also set up a way to allow youth to propose names.
The top suggested names will be announced on social media at noon Monday and the winning names will be revealed later next week.
The first of the four falcons hatched on April 22 and they have grown in the few weeks since then. On Wednesday morning, they had ID bands placed on their legs by wildlife experts who wore helmets to protect from Annie the mother falcon, which made dives at them in an attempt to protect her chicks, according to the university.
The bands will help scientists monitor the falcons as they leave the nest. The chicks are expected to make their first flights off the bell tower in early June.
Among Annie's offspring is Lawrencium, nicknamed "Larry," which hatched on the Campanile in 2018 and has since made a nest on Alcatraz Island. National Park Service officials said it was the first time peregrine falcons have nested there in recorded history.
More information about the Cal Falcons group and the birds themselves, as well as a live-stream of the nest on the Campanile, can be found at the Cal Falcons website, while a live webcam of Lawrencium's chicks on Alcatraz can also be found online.