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Baby Peregrine Falcon Hatched Above Downtown Phoenix Dies

peregrine falcon chick
(Photo courtesy of Arizona Game And Fish Department)
The peregrine falcon chick sitting on the ledge of the nesting box in downtown Phoenix.

The only peregrine falcon to hatch this spring in the nesting box atop the Maricopa County Administration Building has died.

Record-breaking heat in Phoenix and a fall were likely to blame for the bird's death on Saturday, Arizona Game and Fish Department officials said.

The chick, which hatched on Mother's Day, fell from the ledge outside the box on Saturday morning. It was examined by Arizona Game and Fish Department officials and was returned to the nest on Saturday morning. The young falcon later died from its injuries.

"It's likely the chick succumbed to an internal injury that was not evident during its exam," said Game and Fish in a Facebook post.

The bird was almost four weeks old and the only one of four eggs laid by the peregrine falcon breeding pair to hatch this year.

RELATED: Phoenix Peregrine Falcon Webcam Shut Down While Officials Aid Struggling Chick

Game and Fish partners with the county to maintain a nesting box on the Maricopa County Administration Building on Third Avenue and Jefferson Street in downtown Phoenix. New camera equipment was installed earlier this year to offer the public an opportunity to watch the falcons raising its young. A notice on the livestreaming site warned viewers about the unpredictibility of nature.

"Participating in an unfiltered view of wildlife offers an unpredictable glimpse into the real-time joy and drama facing these peregrines, 40 percent of which don’t survive their first year," Game and Fish said.

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Senior digital editor Sky Schaudt joined KJZZ in 2015. Prior to working at KJZZ, Schaudt was a digital news editor at azcentral.com for nearly a decade.