The chicks are spending most of their time sleeping or eating.  In this picture Buckeye has brought in lunch, but SW will do the feeding.

Throughout most of their natural history, peregrine falcons have nested on high, remote cliff ledges that are difficult to reach.   The nestsite or "eyrie" (also spelled "aerie") really is not a nest but a shallow depression, or "scrape," in the rocks and soil.  You've seen Buckeye and SW scrape an indentation in their nestbox gravel  just as they would on a rocky cliff in the wild.  

An interesting falcon nesting fact comes from The Canadian Peregrine Foundation:   "Historically, Peregrines were renowned for having remarkably stable populations.  Records are best documented for Great Britain, where the breeding population remained steady around 800 pairs from the time of Queen Elizabeth I to the Second World War nearly 400 years later.  Even more amazingly, some particular nest sites were almost continuously occupied throughout this period."

As humans began to build skyscrapers in the 20th century, the peregrine adapted to the cliff-like buildings and found cities to their liking.   At first, peregrines would  lay their eggs on a skyscraper ledge and the eggs would often roll off the building during bad weather.  Humans have helped nesting peregrines in cities by building nestboxes to avoid this problem.  Peregrines also like to nest on large bridges because they like to be close to water.  

This is a file photo of SW and Buckeye's nestbox on the 12th floor ledge of their skyscraper home in downtown Cleveland.  Buckeye sends an angry look toward a window washer during spring cleaning.  

Question for the kids:  Most research shows that Peregrine Falcons need 8-10 miles of space around their nest box, for their territory. Can anyone explain why 'city' falcons only need a few city-blocks worth of territory?"

To watch the falcons live go to:  http://www.falconcam.apk.net/  Our thanks to EcoCity Cleveland for providing the FalconCams as a public service.  The first photo is a still captured from the FalconCam.  
 
The photo of the falcons nesting in the wild is courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Visit their website for lots of information at: http://endangered.fws.gov/  

The photo of Buckeye and the window washer is courtesy of Scott Wright and may be used in any non-commercial publication, electronic or print, but please give him photo credit.