A POST mortem into the deaths of three peregrine chicks that hatched in the nest box at Worcester Cathedral has revealed they ingested poison.
Three chicks successfully hatched in the nest, to the delight of many thousands of followers on the cathedral’s YouTube livestream earlier this year.
However, all three chicks later died, between May 6 and May 15, and the livestream was shut down. Two of the carcases were recovered by the Peregrine Falcons in Worcester team and sent to a lab for analysis.
The post-mortems have now been returned which show the birds’ cause of death as having ingested poison.
It is unknown how the chicks came to ingest a poison, and it is follows three hugely successful years where four chicks hatched each time and fledged successfully.
Previous years’ juveniles have been sighted as far away as Bolton and London and the team hopes for more success in the future.
The established pair of adults have been sighted regularly around the cathedral and city since May, and both appear to be in good health. They have proven themselves to be excellent parents.
Authorities informed
The cathedral has reported the results of the post-mortems to the relevant authorities, and they will be included in this year’s British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) annual report.
After a gap of over 10 years, a new pair of peregrines moved into the Cathedral in 2022 and successfully nested, produced and fledged four chicks.
They returned to the nest in 2023 and 2024 and successfully raised four healthy chicks both years.
In 2023 the cathedral was able to install a live hi-res camera, that operated 24 hours a day in breeding season.
Thousands of viewers have enjoyed watching lots of milestones on the YouTube livestream, including hatching, feeding, ringing and fledging, with lots of activity in between.
The team hopes that the adults will return to the nest to breed in 2026, and the livestream can delight viewers once more.
Visit www.worcestercathedral.org.uk/peregrinefalcons for more information.
