HANCOCK, MI (AP)-- Three peregrine falcon chicks have hatched atop the Houghton-Hancock Lift Bridge.
The state Department of Transportation installed nest boxes on the north and south bridge towers in 2012 and a pair of peregrine falcons showed up the next spring.
After raising four chicks on the south tower last year, the pair this year produced three offspring — named Butch, Lisa and Carla by bridge workers — in a nest on the north tower. The chicks were banded June 23 by the state Department of Natural Resources.
MDOT has taken precautions to shield the nesting boxes from construction that's part of an $8.4 million upgrade and preventive maintenance project.
Peregrine falcons remain an endangered species under Michigan law. They were removed from the federal list in 1999.