Appeal after 'hand-reared' peregrine falcon chick found

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a peregrine falcon chick was found abandoned in a box by a roadside.

Senior Inspector Steven Gray said, “The peregrine is believed to be female, around four weeks old and appears to have been hand-reared.

“She bears no identification rings, which we would expect to see on a bird born in captivity, therefore we cannot rule out the possibility that she may have been taken from the wild."

All wild birds, their nests and eggs are protected by law and it is an offence to take a wild bird or their eggs and it is also an offence to be in possession or control of a wild bird.

The chick is now being cared for at the National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Fishcross near Alloa.