One of three baby peregrine falcons to hatch on a ledge of Baltimore's Transamerica Tower in recent days has died, according to the Chesapeake Conservancy, which broadcasts the nest with a live webcam.
When prey was brought into the nest to feed the brood, part of it rested on top of the eyas, as baby falcons are known, smothering it.
The eyas had hatched hours earlier. Two other eyasses hatched over the weekend, and a fourth is expected to break out of its shell soon.
Only about half of peregrine falcons survive beyond a few years, according to the conservancy.
It is the second season two falcons known as Boh and Barb have nested on the downtown ledge and starred in the conservancy's webcam. Last spring, three eyasses hatched, and though one was briefly treated at a wildlife center for an illness, all of them survived to leave the nest.
Peregrine falcons, whose top speed of nearly 200 mph make them some of the fastest creatures on Earth, have nested at the Light Street tower since at least 1978.