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Two rare falcons born in downtown Richmond are flying, getting in food fights and generally doing just fine.

State biologists released the two peregrine falcons nine days ago from a cage atop the 19-story First National Bank Building at 823 E. Main St.

The young falcons are learning to hunt but still depending on their parents to catch birds to eat, said Ray Fernald, manager of nongame programs for the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

"Basically, they are on their own," Fernald said.

Fernald's agency got a fax Friday from a woman who saw the birds feeding on a 20th-floor ledge of the Bank of America building at 1111 E. Main St.

"They were outside her window . . . basically playing tug-of-war with a bird."

The parents raised four chicks on a 17th-story balcony of the First National Bank Building, also called the BB&T building.

Biologists put two of the birds in a rooftop cage, and the parents fed the chicks through the bars. The experts opened the cage June 6, when they felt the birds were strong enough to fly. The fledglings took off about an hour later.

The other two chicks were taken to Shenandoah National Park. They were released June 3 and are also doing fine, Fernald said.

The Richmond youngsters will start off hunting beetles and dragonflies and will eventually work their way up to catching birds, Fernald said.

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So that's good news!

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"It's time to matter."

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