There is sad news to report from the top of San Jose City Hall.

Unita, the only female falcon to be born earlier this year on the 18th-floor ledge of City Hall, has died.

She was 40 days old.

"It takes equal measures of luck, skill and strength to survive out there," said Glenn Stewart, a biologist with the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, who monitors the peregrine falcons born in the Bay Area. "This was purely bad luck."

Stewart said Unita took her first attempt at flying Sunday, as her mother was returning to the ledge nest with a pigeon to eat. Unita lunged for her meal, and apparently couldn't handle flying and grabbing for the food at the same time, Stewart said. She slipped and crashed into the Rotunda.

She was pronounced dead a short time later.

"She wanted to be first for the food," Stewart said. "But her feathers weren't fully developed. She probably had another 2 inches of growth. She should have waited a few days."

Unita is survived by her three brothers, Hermes, Shadow and Ahote, and her parents, Clara and Esteban Colbert.

The falcons are named each year by San Jose schoolchildren.

Members of this beloved falcon family have been living at City Hall since 2007. Their every move is monitored on a webcam and in person by Stewart and his scientific team, along with a group of volunteer falcon lovers, nicknamed the Falconatics.


This is not the first year a young falcon has died. As Stewart explained, learning to fly -- or, rather, land -- is challenging for young birds of prey, and they can die both in the wild and in urban settings.

A male falcon chick was found dead in May 2010, and in June 2008, a female falcon named Cielo died after she suffered a clumsy landing and crashed into City Hall. "The fact is, only the strongest and luckiest survive to breed," Stewart said. "That's why these birds lay four eggs each year."

Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-920-5002.