A male peregrine falcon’s efforts to protect his eggs ended in tragedy after a chick hatched on top of St George’s church died yesterday evening.

This came after he had to single-handedly fend off an intruder of his own kind and bring food for the injured mother falcon, all while sitting on the eggs.

Bird enthusiasts who have been monitoring the progress daily via a special webcam installed by the University of Sheffield took to Twitter to express their disappointment with the latest tragedy.

News that a pair of falcons has laid four eggs first broke by jubilant bird enthusiasts on April 4 (Thursday).

However, the first signs of trouble were raised on May 2 (Thursday) after another Peregrine falcon was spotted trying to disrupt the peace.

Netizens later observed that the female falcon was injured.

But daddy falcon refused to give up on his eggs, drawing praise from concerned netizens.

While the intruder persisted around the eggs for days, netizens expressed a mix of hope and despair whether the chicks would be hatched.

A chick was hatched yesterday evening.

But joys turned to sorrows after it was pronounced dead minutes later.

Sightings of Peregrine falcons in the Sheffield skies is a common occurrence.

In a joint effort by the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield Bird Study Group, Peregrines successfully bred for the first time in 2012 on a platform on St George’s church.