Five peregrine falcon chicks hatch atop three city bridges

A trio of peregrine chicks were discovered at the top of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. A baby peregrine falcon nests in Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.

Who’s the cutest in the animal kingdom?
They’re cute, and fuzzy, and don’t pay rent. Or tolls.

Five peregrine falcon chicks hatched atop three city bridges this month, including a trio of newborns enjoying a spectacular view of New York Harbor from atop the Verrazano-Narrows.

The proud peregrine parents welcomed two girls and a boy to their roost 693 feet above the water on the span’s Brooklyn tower.

Another boy was born atop the 360-foot tall Bronx tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge, with a third male arriving at the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in Queens.

The nest near the Rockaways sits on an abandoned gun turret installed during World War II, rising 215 feet up in the sky. The bridges offer a perfect urban habitat for the birds, which typically prefer a high vantage point for hunting prey.

The peregrine falcons remain on the state endangered species list, with just 67 pairs documented in New York.

Don’t expect the kids to stick around. The youngsters will test their wings in June, with all expected to fly the city-owned co-ops by July.

The quintet of downy white falcons wasn’t the biggest single batch ever in New York. In 1993, the city welcomed a dozen chicks – four at each bridge.

BY Larry Mcshane
DAILY NEWS