Three rare Peregrine Falcon chicks only eight days old have died after heavy rains flooded their nest.

The chicks died despite a daring high angle rescue by Kyle Schmidt, who rappelled down a 30-storey building to rescue the chicks in Friday morning's torrential rain.

The deaths are a blow to the Peregrine Recovery Project Manitoba, which every year works to ensure the falcons reproduce and repopulate the species.

The falcons had laid their eggs on an outcrop located on the 13th storey of the Radisson Hotel in downtown Winnipeg. The outcrop was fully exposed to the elements, and Friday's heavy rain began flooding the area surrounding the nest.

The situation was dire, and Manitoba Conservation had feared the chicks may have already been dead when Schmidt and a crew from the Winnipeg Fire Department arrived to perform the rescue attempt.

The rain-slick concrete made it difficult for Schmidt to get proper footing, but as the rain hammered his face and hands, he said he managed to get to the nest and placed the chicks into the comfort of a warm backpack.

"I told them we were coming down - 'everyone keep calm'" Schmidt told CTV News. "Momma bird looked at me and knew we were doing something for the birds and in the best interest of everybody. She didn't give me any hassle."

The birds survived the journey to the ground but the experience proved too much; they died a few minutes later.

Officials say the first 10 days are the most difficult because the babies can't regulate their own body temperature.

Drastic measures  for endangered birds

Officials took the drastic measures to try to save the chicks because Peregrine Falcons have been on the Endangered Species List since 1992.

The birds choose one mate for life, and Manitoba Conservation is concerned this pair of Peregrine Falcons won't re-nest this year.

"They've expended a lot of energy producing the eggs, and protecting the chicks from this kind of weather," Tracy Maconachie of Manitoba Conservation said. "So we'll see whether or not they have enough reserves to do it [again] and whether or not they feel they can."

There's only one other pair in the province located in Brandon. Officials say the last time they checked, two of the four eggs there had hatched.