XJ found dead at Cathedral

Sadly, one of last summer's chicks, with colour ring XJ, a male, has been found dead outside the cathedral.
There were no signs of any injury or disease so the corpse will be sent off for an x-ray, a post mortem and chemical analysis to try to discover the cause of death.
This chick came to ground soon after fledging and had to be returned to the top of the tower. 
It was probably the young bird seen begging food from its parent on the nest platform in October.

All photos were taken by Jessica Kilmurray to whom many thanks.
Jessica works for the Cathedral and was quickly on the scene, photographing and collecting the body and storing it in a cool place.
Getting PM results may take some time but we will update you when we hear anything.

Young peregrines have a fairly low survival rate, facing so many challenges once they have fledged....so it is not unexpected to hear of one being found dead.
What is slightly unusual about this bird is that it has already got a yellow cere (at the bae of the beak) and a yellow eye ring which are features of adult birds rather than those in their first year......

The Project Team