4 peregrine falcon chicks banded at Pitt's Cathedral of Learning

Wednesday was a big day for the four peregrine falcon chicks who live in the nest on top of Pitt's Cathedral of Learning.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission placed small, lightweight numbered bands on the chicks, which will allow researchers to track the species' population. 

Viewers of the National Aviary's FalconCam have been watching parents Carla and Ecco raise the chicks since the start of the season, and it's the third year their offspring have been banded. The species has been nesting on Pitt's campus for more than 20 years.  

The banding is part of the ongoing conservation efforts for peregrine falcons, which once faced extinction in the United States. In the mid-1970s, the National Aviary said there were only about 300 nesting pairs left in North America. After DDT was banned, peregrine falcons rebounded, and Carla and Ecco are now one of more than 3,000 known breeding pairs across North America. 

Patricia Barber, an endangered bird biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, believes this year's brood includes two females and one male. She isn't sure about the last one — it's either a large male or a small female. In most birds of prey, including peregrine falcons, the females are usually bigger. 

Now viewers can watch as the four siblings continue to grow and try their first attempt at fledging the nest as early as June. The National Aviary says live wildlife cameras like the one on the Cathedral of Learning help connect people to nature and protect the future of the birds.