This story has goddamn got it all: Baby animals, thrilling heights and a (with respect) mildly sassy bird watcher.

We talked to Dr Victor Hurley from the Victorian Peregrine Program, the project leader who helped set up the now infamous live stream of “the only known peregrine falcon nesting site within Melbourne’s CBD” on the rooftop of 367 Collins Street.



Much like Netflix’s hit television show Terrace House, in which nothing really happens but it is wildly addictive, people have been tuning in, watching almost nothing happen and discussing at length. Recently, though, viewers were rewarded with the birth of two brand new peregrine falcons.



Is Dr Victor Hurley excited? “Oh it’s always good to see when peregrine falcons are hatching out eggs successfully. So yes, very much so.”



This is a big deal because they only breed once a year and there aren’t that many peregrine falcons around. As Dr Victor said when asked about the Australian population…



Dr Victor: I couldn’t tell you the Australian population but most capital cities in Australia would have one pair, they’re very territorial--

Liam: Just one?!

Dr Victor: Just one. You heard it. You can count to one, can’t you?



[GET REKT]



“This is a bird of prey, it’s a predator and so they’re very territorial,” he continued. “No prisoner abuse scandals with these guys, they’ll just kill each other if they’re fighting. So, the closest I’ve ever recorded them nesting is about 1.6km apart.”



So, whilst the young have a dependency period of “maybe three or four months” they certainly won’t be living with their parents till age 30.

“This is a lesson for you and all of your listeners: When the young are successful after their first kill, the parents basically lock the fridge, change the locks on the door and chase them out of their territory for life.”

Other fun and brutal facts about the peregrine falcon:



- They feed exclusively on birds and almost exclusively on birds that are flying

- They’ve been recorded diving at 320km per hour. (“So for the science geeks amongst you they can fall faster than terminal velocity for their size”).

- “The vision you’re seeing on that feed is just a camera trained on the nest leaves so you’ll see breeding behaviour, they’ll be feeding chicks, as the chicks get bigger they’ll be exercising, practicing flapping their wings, that sort of thing.”



So what are you waiting for, there’s a couple of single baby birds in your area: