The CBC's Falcon Cam web page has received more than one million hits since its May 18 launch. (CBC)The CBC's Falcon Cam web page, devoted to showing the daily lives of a family of peregrine falcons in Winnipeg, continues to draw flocks of bird lovers across the country.
Since the page was launched on May 18, it has already surpassed a million page views, making it one of the most popular sites at CBC.ca. The weekday average is 50,000 page views.
The camera focuses on Princess and Trey, a pair of peregrine falcons that have been nesting annually for the past few years on the 13th-floor ledge of the Radisson Hotel for the past few years. More than a week after the May 18 launch, the falcons hatched three chicks.
The project involves CBC Manitoba, Shaw Cable Systems and the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project.
Tracy Maconachie, head of the recovery project, said banding of the chicks will be done sometime between Thursday and Monday, weather permitting.
In 2008, heavy June rains drowned three chicks despite a dramatic rescue attempt by a Winnipeg firefighter who rappelled down the side of the building.
One of four chicks belonging to the same falcon pair fell to its death as online viewers watched in 2007. Dozens of people from around the world contacted CBC Manitoba and the recovery project to report incident.
Various pairs of the peregrine falcons have been nesting on the hotel ledge since 1989. The current pair, together since 2004, are the sixth set to take up residence there.
The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on the planet, reaching speeds of more than 300 km/h in a dive, with nostrils so adept at breathing during its dives that scientists mimicked the function for use in fighter jets.
In Canada and the United States, it is illegal to kill peregrines or disrupt their nests.
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