THE first caracara bird chicks to be born at the Kirkleatham Owl Centre near Redcar have gone on display.

The adult pair of striated caracaras at the museum three years but only recently felt secure enough to breed.

The result is two, three-week-old chicks with one being reared with mum and dad and the other by bird sanctuary volunteers.

In the wild striated caracaras are native to the Falkland Islands and Craig Wesson, museum manager, said all the staff were “delighted” at the birth.

He said: ‘’We didn’t plan on hand rearing one of them but this baby was lagging behind his or her older sibling so we decided to step in and help mum and dad out. Looking at her now it hard to imagine she was the runt of the clutch. She has been nicknamed loud Lilly.

“If you have visited the centre at any time over the last 20 years you will have seen Stanley our famous striated caracara who takes part in our flying display and this baby clearly has a lot of growing to do to end up the hansom shiny black bird that Stanley is. The baby, who it has to be said is not the prettiest, has quadrupled in size over the last three weeks and is eating a diet of chopped chicken and minced rat. ‘Her appetite is never ending. And wow is she loud.’”

Visitors to the owl centre may be lucky enough to spot the other baby in the aviary with its very protective parents.