The peregrine falcons nesting on a ledge of the old Hotel Utah have produced three eggs, and wildlife officials are hoping for a fourth, state Wildlife Resources biologist Bob Walters said Thursday.
The falcons, called Peggy and Parry by the division's nest-watchers, are incubating the eggs in shifts. While egg-sitting may not be seem to be a "manly" occupation, said Walters, the male is taking his turn.The nesting birds, members of an endangered species, actually crouch over the eggs rather than sitting on them, with the female taking "the brunt of the duty" at night.
The nest box rests on the south side of the closed hotel's ninth floor, and is furnished with a rock and filled with tiny gravel. The reddish-brown eggs should hatch in about five weeks, said Walters.