Canada "falcon cam" captures failed rescue attempt

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A brood of fuzzy peregrine falcon chicks perished on Friday after heavy rains prompted an unsuccessful rescue attempt by a rappelling firefighter, said CBC Manitoba, which captured the drama on a live webcam.

Peregrine falcons, a bird brought close to extinction by pesticides, have nested on the 13th storey ledge of Winnipeg's downtown Radisson Hotel since 1989, attracting fans around the world with a CBC Internet web camera.

This year's pair, named Trey and Princess, hatched the chicks on May 28, CBC said.

Watchers began to call the CBC and the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project early on Friday after they saw one of the adults trying to shelter the chicks amid more than 35 millimeters (1.4 inches) of rain, CBC Manitoba said.

"Trey and Princess were able to protect their chicks from snow, rain and high winds but there was no way that they could keep them dry with the amount of rain falling this morning," wrote Tracy Maconachie, a biologist who works with the recovery project, in a note to the web watchers.

Webcam footage showed the adult falcon watching and then flying away as a firefighter lowered himself to the ledge to put the chicks in a knapsack. They did not survive the journey, Maconachie told a local newspaper.

Peregrine falcon numbers have been slowly recovering since the pesticide DDT was banned 30 years ago, and because of efforts to release captive-bred birds into the wild. The birds often build their nests on ledges of urban high-rises across North America.

LINKS:

* Manitoba peregrine falcon recovery project: here

* Falcon Cam

* here

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Frank McGurty)