Talk about being highborn.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says three peregrine falcon chicks have hatched in a nest atop one of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge's 693-foot-tall tower this spring. Another falcon chick has been born on a 360-foot tower at the Throgs Neck Bridge and a fifth in a turret on the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge between Brooklyn and the Rockaways.
The MTA says all hatched within the last four weeks in nesting boxes built on the bridges. The chicks are expected to start flying in the next two weeks.
The bridges have served for years as nesting sites for the birds, which are on the state endangered species list. State officials documented 67 pairs of them living in New York City last year.
The bridges newest residents were recently banded on their feet by a wildlife volunteers. The bands are numbered and will track the chicks as they grow and reproduce.
The baby birds may be cute, but don’t try cuddling up to the little guys. At three weeks old, the chick's talons on the chicks will be the size of a human hand. In the next two weeks, the falcons will begin to practice flying from atop the bridge towers. By July, they will leave for unknown destinations.
