Floored falcon soars again after skyscraper rescue, rehab

The live-streaming cameras may have been switched off, but the story of Melbourne’s peregrine falcons is still captivating birdwatchers after a dramatic skyscraper rescue.

One of the three fledglings that hatched at 367 Collins Street in early October left the ledge last month, before becoming trapped behind a glass balcony screen on another skyscraper in the CBD on November 15.

Experienced carers responded quickly, rescuing the bird and attempting to release it in the Fitzroy Gardens. The gardens were far enough away from the Collins Street ledge to avoid things getting ugly in case the adult falcons did not accept the fledgling, Victorian Peregrine Project founder Dr Victor Hurley said.

But carers soon realised the little falcon could not fly because of what looked like a soft-tissue injury to its right wing.

Melbourne Zoo staff ended up giving the falcon blood tests and X-rays before the bird was moved to Healesville Sanctuary’s raptor rehabilitation centre.

The centre contains a 100-metre flight tunnel for birds to build up their strength before they return to the wild.

The falcon was released last week.Credit: Jo Howell/Zoos Victoria

There, the falcon rested, worked on its flight fitness and was given anti-inflammatory medication, before it was released within home range at a park near the Yarra River last week, the sanctuary said.

It is not uncommon for juvenile birds to have misadventures, and the falcon will continue forging its way in the wild, no longer needing to return to its parents on the Collins Street ledge.

“The team is thrilled this bird is soaring back through our skies and delighting Melburnians again,” Healesville Sanctuary life sciences manager Gerry Ross said.

The whereabouts of the other two fledglings that left the ledge are not known, Hurley said, but the adult falcons would stay at Collins Street, having little reason to move elsewhere.

“In the northern hemisphere, [peregrine falcons] migrate a lot … and that’s because all the food would do the same thing,” Hurley said.

“In Australia, the food doesn’t migrate, so the predators go, ‘Just put another prawn on the barbie, what are we going to bother migrating for?’

“They may not be right at the nest, or right on the building every single day, but over the decades, I’ve been looking at that site every month of the year … and you’ll see them cruising past.”

Peregrine falcons don’t make nests, but lay their eggs in tree hollows, on tall buildings or cliff faces.Credit: Jo Howell, Zoos Victoria

The little falcon’s rescue and rehabilitation would give it a “slightly better chance”, Hurley said.

“Life’s tough in the city,” he said.

Peregrine falcons are birds of prey and can fly at speeds of up to 300km/h. They lay their eggs in tree hollows, on the ledges of tall buildings and in shallow dips in rocks or cliff faces, rather than in nests.

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