DOWNTOWN — A fledgling peregrine falcon, likely injured in an ill-fated first attempt at flight near Millennium Park, is on the mend with a positive prognosis.
"The bird is in rehab and doing just fine," said the Field Museum's Mary Hennen, also director of the Chicago Peregrine Program.
Hennen said museum officials picked up the bird and transported it Willowbrook Wildlife Center, a suburban facility where injured animals are cared for.
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A Reddit user on Tuesday posted a photo of the bird wrapped in towels and in a pet cage. The post said the bird was found laying on its back near the Legacy at Millennium Park condominium building, 60 E. Monroe St.
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Hennen said the fledging bird likely was making a first-time flight from its nest and was trying to glide down to another level or ledge.
"Balconies or terraces with glass walls such as the one on which the bird landed can be confusing for an inexperienced bird," Hennen said. "They can't understand that in order to leave that ledge they need to fly up and over instead of flying straight out."
Hennen said "the bird did not show signs of injuries from a crash but instead was dehydrated."
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In recent years, the raptors have been spotted nesting on a balcony in Lakeview, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, at water-intake islands two miles out in Lake Michigan, in South Loop, Millennium Park and even attacking a great horned owl off the Rogers Park lakefront.
The Field Museum's Chicago Peregrine Program monitors 29 peregrine territories, and in 2015, 20 pairs attempted breeding, and 15 were successful, according to the group.
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It's been a remarkable comeback for the bird, which was federally recognized as endangered in 1973 but was taken off the list in Illinois last year. Though removed from the Illinois endangered list, it is still protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
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