By Khalida Sarwari
Hermes, Poppy, and Shadow — those are just three out of 10 name choices the public can vote for starting today to name San Jose City Hall’s newest falcon chicks in an online contest the city is holding.
A panel of judges selected the finalists from the 97 names that were submitted for the contest.
Voting for the naming of celebrity falcons Clara and Esteban Colbert’s offspring — three males and a female — begins today and ends at noon on May 6. Votes can be cast on the San Jose Peregrine Falcon Alliance website at http://www.sanjoseperegrines.org.
The choices for the lone female chick are Jasele, Kiara, Poppy, Romera, Unita and Vida.
The male names are Ahote’, Cheve’yo, Hermes and Shadow.
The names in the poll were suggested by schoolchildren in San Jose. The winning names will be announced on the website on May 6.
Glenn Stewart, coordinator of the University of California at Santa Cruz’s Predatory Bird Research Group, who banded the chicks’ legs on Thursday morning said all four chicks appear to be healthy.
The falcon chicks were born earlier this month on a City Hall ledge 18 stories above street level.
They will begin flying around mid-May, Stewart said.
This is Clara’s fifth nesting season at City Hall and her third with mate Esteban Colbert.
More information about the contest can be found online at www.sanjoseca.gov/falcons.