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Issue Date: 
June 15, 2015

On a recent warm morning, Pitt’s newest falcon chick had an entire room of news reporters and wildlife officials watching it with adoration. The chick—this year’s sole offspring of longtime peregrine parents, Dorothy and E2—received his first health exam on May 29. A Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife biologist gently snatched the chick from its box (nest) that rests outside the Cathedral of Learning’s 40th floor. A University veterinarian examined the bird, concluding that it was developmentally delayed yet robust enough to return to the nest. The vet laid the chick on its back, spurring the bird to immediately flip itself over, evoking actual cheers from the crowd. Encore, encore … your fans await your first flight. (Photo by Emily O'Donnell)