Vote to name Salisbury Cathedral Peregrine chicks
There is, of course, a Coronation theme to the potential choices!
Last updated 12th May 2023
You can cast your vote on what to name this year’s Peregrine chicks at Salisbury Cathedral now.
This year's theme is the Coronation and the full list of names can be found on the Cathedral website.
We can pick from choices including Rose, Lily, Rex and Sceptre, and of course, Charles and Camilla!
We'll also shortly know what gender the three chicks are.
That will be discovered next week when representatives of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) will head up the spire to ring the birds.
Clerk of Works at the Cathedral Gary Price explains how this works:
“(Ringing) involves collecting them from the nest box, putting them in a bag and the reason why they're putting a bag is because they remain calm when it's dark.
“They'll be taken out, weighed, and have a coloured ring on one leg and a silver ring on another leg, which is got an identification number on it.”
The coloured ring will help bird watchers identify where the Peregrine was born.
Gary said it will be quite simple to tell which chicks are male and which are female: “Generally the girls have larger feet. They’re third larger than the males, so it is quite easy to tell in weight and the size of the feet.”
Following the ringing of the chicks, fledging will begin in around three weeks, which is where they will take their first flight, and even starting at 220ft in the air, that’s something that takes perfecting.
“On many occasions over the years I've had to rescue a peregrine, that’s gracefully glided its way down in the close,” Gary said.
Catching a stuck chick is easy, even if their learning to fly isnt: “They're actually quite easy to catch, really, because they're generally just sitting on the ground. You just put a blanket or a towel over them,” Gary explained.
“Then you pick them up, put him in a basket, and then you’ve got to walk up the 332 steps to the top, for them to have another go!”
The ringing process is also a prime opportunity for an important piece of work to happen around the nestbox – and its not a nice one!
Gary said: “Some viewers might be watching the live stream and yesterday (Wednesday) with the torrential downpours the water did raise up quite high 2 inches of water around the nest box. So, we're going to clean the drains out and clean the camera as well while we’re there.”
With three names to be given, make sure you cast your vote here.