Second cathedral peregrine chick dies

The nest has featured in a 24-hour livestream

A second peregrine chick born at a nesting site at Worcester Cathedral, which has featured on a webcam, has died.

Parents Peter and Peggy produced four eggs at the cathedral, with the first hatching on Easter Sunday, but one did not hatch and there is now only a single bird left.

The latest death followed "chick bullying" of the smaller of the two remaining chicks, the Peregrine Falcons in Worcester group said on Facebook.

Unlike with the first chick who died this week, the second one has been recovered and will be taken to a laboratory for tests.

Chris Dobbs, a wildlife expert at the cathedral, said the first chick could not be assessed as its mother had probably removed it herself.

A 24-hour livestream of the nest box received nearly 500,000 views from across the world last year.

'Pretty cruel world'

Mr Dobbs said the "slightly smaller" chick of the remaining two got "shoved into the side of the ledge outside the box".

After being shoved off the ledge again on Friday morning, he said "it was obviously out there on its own, the mother wasn't feeding it and it started looking particularly ill".

The remaining chick, however, is thought to be healthy.

"It's being fed like mad at the moment, so hopefully success this year will be that one chick surviving to the end," Mr Dobbs said.

He added that the latest death had not really come as a shock.

"I've seen it happen with other species and other birds, other nests, it's a pretty cruel world and it's the law of the jungle," he said.