Female Peregrine Falcon ‘Lily’ who lived atop Sheraton Hamilton Hotel has died

A female Peregrine Falcon who has been living on a ledge at the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel has died.

According to the Hamilton Community Peregrine Project (HCCP) website, downtown Hamilton’s resident female Peregrine Falcon, Lily, passed away Sunday evening.

“It would seem that her dehydration and frostbite were more severe than they first appeared. This together with the injuries she sustained from some kind of collision were too much for her aging body,” reads a post on the page.

Over the weekend, Lily was rescued from a location on the ground near the corner of Bay St. and York Blvd. not far from where she lived atop the hotel with her male counterpart, Judson.

Despite not appearing to be seriously injured, Lily was showing signs of hypothermia and one of her wings was noticeably stiff and may have been injured in a collision with a vehicle or building.

HCPP says the injuries were “too much” for the peregrine and she died around 6:30 p.m.

The group recently celebrated Lily’s seventh anniversary of her arrival at the Hamilton nest.

She was banded in 2010 at the Grand Haven Board of Light & Power plant in Michigan.

HCPP said following Lily’s death, two adult peregrines were seen on the Sheraton Hamilton nest ledge.

“We don’t know if this implies that some of Lily’s injuries were from a territorial battle, or if this new bird is just seizing the obvious opportunity to move in on a nesting territory with only one adult present. Judson appeared a little bit upset, but did not try to drive off the newcomer,” reads an update on HCPP’s website.

The group will be keeping a close eye on the nest over the coming days.

In Ontario, Peregrine Falcons are listed as a “special concern” which means the species lives in the wild in Ontario, is not endangered or threatened, but may become threatened or endangered due to a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats.

It is a crow-sized bird with a slate blue back and a cream-coloured chest covered in dark markings.

Young Peregrine Falcons have a high mortality rate with roughly 70 per cent of peregrines not making it past their first year. Those that do survive, however, can live up to 15 years.