WebCams Create Fascinating New Stars: Peregrine Falcons

tags: , ,

Powerful and fast-flying, the peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, hunts medium-sized birds, dropping down on them from high above in a spectacular stoop. Virtually exterminated from eastern North America by pesticide poisoning in the middle 20th century, restoration efforts have made this species a regular, if still uncommon sight in many large cities.

Thanks to Charlie from KQED Public Broadcasting in San Francisco, I have embedded a wonderful video about the resident SF peregrine falcons (below the fold). These amazing predators have been increasingly found nesting in large cities along the west coast, from LA to Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. This streaming report includes some spectacular footage and images that will leave you wanting more. [3:54]

You can click here to see the same story in a larger, nearly full-frame, format. Additionally, if you have questions, feel free to post them here in comments and the people involved with the story will answer them.

Incidentally, the producer for the story, Lauren, emailed me the answers to a few of my questions so I will post that here so you can also read about them;

This is their first year on the San Jose City Hall building, and their chicks are doing fine. All 3 (2 girls and a boy) have fledged, and they're all banded for future identification. The parents, Jose and Clara, are not banded, so their origin is unknown. There are also other famous pairs with webcams in the Bay Area, especially a pair in San Francisco, George and Gracie.

If you are interested, you can read more about the pair and watch highlights from their nesting season.


Slashdot
 
Slashdot It!

More like this

tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter A winning photo of a Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Galbula ruficauda. Image: Marcelo Ismar Santana. Birds in Science Scientists are looking in the brains of songbirds for clues to human speech impediments like stuttering. For the…
Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus. Orphaned image. Please contact me for proper attribution and linkage. As I get my blog-feet under me, one of the things I plan to do is to resume publishing Birds in the News on Mondays, at noon, EST. Until that happy moment, perhaps you will enjoy seeing a…
tags: peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, birds, urban birds, image of the day Male peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, named Eric who lives and breeds in a city in North America. who replaced "Erik", the former resident on his current territory in a city in North America. Image: John P. Baumlin…
tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter Common merganser, Mergus merganser, and chicks. Orphaned image [larger view]. People Hurting Birds The number of migratory songbirds returning to North America has gone into sharp decline due to the unregulated use of…

Nice post, and I like the fact that the adults have no bands. Even though I'm a biologist, I wish we could stop banding every peregrine from every nest we find.