Chicks in peregrine falcon nests are hatching

Peregrine falcon chicks have started hatching in the Kansas City area.

Chicks started hatching late Sunday at the nest at the KCP&L Iatan Power Plant, and young ones began appearing Monday at the nest at American Century Tower on the Country Club Plaza, the Missouri Department of Conservation said in a release.

Once they hatch, the chicks will move about the nests as their parents return with food. The chicks are expected to grow quickly, with noticeable changes almost daily.

The falcon nests are a partnership between the Department of Conservation, Kansas City Power & Light Co. and American Century Investments.

People can catch a glimpse of the falcons via live-streaming cameras that are mounted to view into the nest boxes.

One next box is placed on a smokestack at KCP&L’s Iatan Power Plant, which is north of Weston. A pair of falcons are incubating four eggs.

Mobile users can view the camera by tapping here.

The other box is at the American Century tower near the Country Club Plaza. A pair of falcons are incubating four eggs there too.

Mobile users can view the camera by tapping here.

Biologists will also check nest boxes in the coming weeks at the KCP&L power plant at Sibley, Missouri, and at the Commerce Tower in downtown Kansas City. Those two boxes do not have cameras.

The Department of Conservation began re-introducing peregrine falcons in the Kansas City area at the Commerce Tower in 1991 to encourage nesting amid the skyscrapers. The birds are endangered in Missouri.

This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 1:30 PM.