The city of Aurora is inviting residents to vote on names for the four baby falcons that recently hatched just outside City Hall.
Community members got the chance to submit nominations for the names through May 11. Now that nominations are in, the top 10 submissions are going to a vote, and then the top four will be given to the baby falcons, according to a city news release.
Voters will have the option to choose between Vern, Aurora, Hope, George, Amor, Fox, Galena, Wayne, Sky and Ringo.
Nearly 400 submissions were made through the nomination process, city officials said in the news release.
Voting is now open through May 18. Residents can vote by visiting: yourvoice.aurora.il.us/babyfalcons
The falcon family can be viewed through a 24-hour live stream, called the “Falcon Cam,” at aurora.il.us/FalconCam
The eggs were laid by a falcon named Vixen, who is 5 years old and and from a nest in Minneapolis, according to the city news release. Officials said she began nesting in a crevice on the second floor of the exterior of City Hall in early April.
Vixen met an adult male peregrine named Dave, who was fledged from a nest in Chicago in 2020, and went on to lay four eggs that would hatch into the baby falcons, the news release said.
Information about the two falcons comes from The Field Museum in Chicago, which has them tagged and tracked, according to an Aurora spokesperson.
Aurora Mayor John Laesch told The Beacon-News that the city’s Communications and Marketing Department has done a good job sharing something positive and fun about the city.
The falcons have gotten a lot of interest from the community, with many people invested in their well-being and success, he said.
While not every part of his job is fun, Laesch said, the falcons have been.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
