BERKELEY — Most of the students and tourists milling around in the shadow of UC Berkeley’s iconic Campanile this week had no idea that something unusual was taking place 300 feet above them.

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Why no break on UC tuition despite the move to remote classes? COVID-19 costs are astronomical But a group of bird enthusiasts stationed nearby have had their telescopes and binoculars trained on the tower for good reason: About 4:30 p.m. on Monday, one of two baby peregrine falcons that have been nesting at the top with their parents spread her wings and flew for the first time, marking another milestone in the resurgence of the once-scarce species.

The fledgling, named Fiat, flew awkwardly off the tower and, losing ground rapidly, landed a short time later on a nearby tree. By about 8 p.m., she was on the move again, returning to the tower. The other baby peregrine, Lux, has so far seemed less inclined to test her wings, but the bird watchers who have converged on Berkeley are patient folks.

Female fledglings usually fly for the first time, or “fledge,” after around 42-43 days of life, and volunteers had been preparing and gathering supplies in anticipation of that window, which opened mid-week. The thing is, as head volunteer Mary Malec put it, baby peregrines are pretty good at flying but “not great at landing.”

So Malec and a rotating cast of helpers have stationed themselves below the tower for days watching for the telltale signs and sounds — head bobbing and a loud noise called cacking — that the two babies, both female, who have spent their brief childhood in a nest at the top of the tower were about to make the leap.

All things considered, Fiat’s first flight went relatively smoothly. Berkeley’s leafy campus is idyllic compared to the cityscape of San Francisco where some other falcons choose to nest, and there are plenty of relatively protected tall buildings where the babies can try to land after testing their wings. When they succeed, their parents find them and bring them pigeons to eat. Everyone (save the pigeons) will relax after a few days of practice.

But there are plenty of dangers in the meantime, some of them human. On Monday afternoon, the watchers spotted a man high in the tower, beyond where he should have been, trying to take pictures of the birds and making the mother falcon nervous. Campus police came, but the man got away before they could apprehend him.

And as soon as young falcons jump, crows and other predators who have been biding their time nearby often try to force them to the ground, where they run the risk of being run over or picked up improperly by a well-meaning student or becoming a snack for one of the predators. (Malec once stepped in front of a Muni bus on a San Francisco street to save a falcon lying on the pavement from meeting an untimely end.)

“It’s a bird-eat-bird world out there,” quipped Doug Bell, a wildlife program manager for the East Bay Regional Park District who has checked in periodically on the falcons.

So, with the university’s permission, Malec and others arranged for any number of contingencies. They stationed signs around campus with instructions and phone numbers to call should someone find one of the fledglings on the ground. The Lindsay Wildlife Experience is on standby to receive an injured bird if it comes to that. But ideally, if one of the babies winds up on the ground shaken but unhurt, Malec or one of the other trained volunteers will be able to scoop her up and return her to the nest to try again.

If the parents think their babies are acting like chickens, they might fly nearby with food to try to draw them out, “like dangling a cellphone in front of a 14-year-old,” joked Bell.

Bell has loved peregrines, whose 240-mph dives make them the fastest member of the animal kingdom, since he was a child in the 1960s. But back then, they were few and far between. Now, thanks to the U.S. Endangered Species Act and other changes, there are about 40 nest sites in the Bay Area and 350 in the state. “You have to keep pinching yourself because it wasn’t always this way,” Bell said.

The current nest on the Campanile is the first on that site as far as anyone can remember and a thrill for local birdwatchers. “I feel no stress after being here just five minutes,” said Cheryl Elmore, a volunteer from Kensington who has been watching peregrines for a decade.

Interest in peregrines appears to be growing. In the past, when people saw Elmore staring toward the sky, they’d assume the worst: that someone was contemplating jumping from a rooftop. Now, even children ask about the peregrines, she said. That’s thanks in part to webcams, the fact that there are just more of them flying around these days, and social media.

Malec and Bell are encouraged by the interest from young people and other citizen scientists. “If you can show a kid a peregrine up close, you’ve got that kid interested forever,” said Malec, who has several grandchildren.

Seeing a good PR opportunity, even UC Berkeley’s social media team has gotten in on the act. A contest to name the two babies drew 1,169 votes.

If all goes well, the peregrine falcons that have chosen to nest at the school will settle in, and birdwatchers new and old will be able to see them on the Campanile for years to come. Where peregrines in the area used to have their pick of nesting spot, they now have to contend with competitors for space. Once they find a spot they like, they tend to stay put.

“You know,” Bell said, “real estate in the Bay Area is so prime, you don’t want to leave it!”

Staff writer Tatiana Sanchez contributed to this report.