Mary brought specimens of peregrines and peregrine eggs from the Academy's collection to show students. She also showed a movie of an actual peregrine hatching on the ledge of a building in Chicago. On this day students were asked to compare the cityscape, the new home of the peregrines, to its more traditional habitat, cliffs. Students also learned that peregrines nest in gravel depressions on cliff ledges, quite a bit different than stick nests made by other raptors such as bald eagles and red-tail hawks. To start the project students studied birds in general, deciding what makes a bird a bird.
Feathers are one thing that makes a bird a bird.
No other animal has feathers. Beaks also play an important role in defining a bird. Peregrine Falcons, like all raptors, have sharp curved beaks to help them eat meat.