SANYO-ONODA, Yamaguchi Falcons returned to breed on a chimney at a thermal power plant in western Japan in what has become a spring tradition.
Endangered raptors came to a nest box set up on the 200 meter-tall chimney at Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s Shin-Onoda Power Station this spring to breed. Three chicks have already been confirmed, and they have been seen vigorously pecking at food brought to them by their parents. They are expected to leave the nest by June.
In 1992 falcons were found for the first time on a former crow's nest on the chimney. Several raptors have been seen breeding there every year, and stainless-steel nest boxes were installed in 2000 at heights of 50 meters and 100 meters to assist with stable breeding following a suggestion from the Wild Bird Society of Japan.
A breeding pair came to the lower nest box measuring 80 centimeters in width, 50 cms in height and 65 cms in depth in March this year, and three hatched chicks were confirmed in mid-April. The head of the power station, Hideaki Misawa, told the Mainichi Shimbun, We warmly watch over them like parents until they leave the nest.