Peregrine falcons that hatched last month at UC Berkeley’s Campanile bell tower now have earth-themed monikers after a naming contest that attracted hundreds of name submissions and nearly 4,000 votes.
The four new falcons are named Aurora, Eclipse, Equinox (Nox) and Solstice (Sol), the Cal Falcons group of scientists and volunteers that monitor the birds announced Thursday.
The names are fitting since three of them were born on Earth Day, April 22, while the youngest chick, Nox, hatched two days later.
About 650 people proposed names via Cal Falcons’ social media platforms while 150 children suggested names via a partnership with Berkeley Public Library.
The two male and two female falcons are in the nest of Annie, a female falcon that has lived atop the tower since 2016, and her new partner Archie. Last week, scientists placed ID bands and pieces of colored tape on the chicks’ legs to distinguish them from each other.
Eclipse is a male chick with just a silver ID band on his leg while his brother Nox has a blue band on his leg. Aurora was the name given to the female chick with a green band while Sol has a yellow band, according to Cal Falcons.
The earth-themed names received nearly half of the 3,896 votes cast across the group’s social media sites, while second place was a set of four names of characters in Beverly Cleary’s books for young people.
Cal Falcons scientists expect the birds to start flying from the nest in early June. Annie has seen more than 20 chicks hatch at the Campanile nest, including Lawrencium, nicknamed “Larry,” which hatched on the Campanile in 2018 and has since made a nest on Alcatraz Island and had chicks hatch there. National Park Service officials said it was the first time peregrine falcons nested there in recorded history.
More information about the Cal Falcons group and the birds themselves, as well as a live-stream of the nest on the Campanile, can be found at calfalcons.berkeley.edu. A live webcam of Lawrencium’s chicks on Alcatraz can be found is also available for viewing.
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