By Khalida Sarwari
The winning names for San Jose celebrity falcons Clara and Esteban Colbert’s offspring were announced this afternoon.
The falcon chicks were born earlier this month on a City Hall ledge 18 stories above street level. This is Clara’s fifth nesting season at City Hall and her third with mate Esteban Colbert.
The city held an online contest in which local schoolchildren submitted suggestions to name the young falcons. The public was allowed to vote on the top submissions online, and voting ended at noon today.
The winning name for the female falcon is “Unita,” submitted by Aditya, a second-grader at Eaton Elementary School.
The male names that got the most votes are “Hermes,” submitted by Deepti, an 8th grade student at Chaboya Middle School; “Shadow,” submitted by Vanessa, a fourth-grader at Holly Oak Elementary School; and “Ahote,” submitted by Lesley, who is in fifth grade at McKinley Elementary School.
More than 1,500 people participated in the online poll.
The falcon chicks will begin flying around mid-May, according to Glenn Stewart, coordinator of the University of California at Santa Cruz’s Predatory Bird Research Group, who banded the chicks’ legs last week.
The FalconCam, a live streaming video of the falcons’ nest, can be viewed on the city’s website at http://www.sanjoseca.gov.