First Peregrine Egg Laid at Gulf Tower Nest

Pittsburgh FalconCam Offers Live Streaming Video of Nest

(PITTSBURGH, March 17, 2010) – Tasha2, the female peregrine falcon at the downtown Gulf Tower, has laid her first egg, and devoted followers in Pittsburgh and around the world can enjoy intimate up-close views of the nest via the National Aviary's Pittsburgh FalconCam
http://www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_gt.php .

Dorothy, the female peregrine at the Cathedral of Learning, laid her first egg last week and has produced three eggs in total. Dorothy’s nest can be viewed at http://www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_cl.php.

“Chicks will hatch about 30 days after the eggs are laid," says Dr. Todd Katzner, director of Conservation and Field Research at the National Aviary. "Three to four weeks after hatching, the chicks will be banded by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and given a full medical exam.

Live video streams via cameras installed at nests in both locations will this year provide sharper, and more focused views of the birds. The cameras were installed by PixController, a Murrysville company specializing in wildlife cameras. The images and sounds they collect are streamed by WildEarth.tv to the National Aviary web site, providing real-time web tv images accessible world-wide. FalconCam footage at both sites can be accessed via the National Aviary web site: www.aviary.org/falcon .

The cameras operate 24 hours a day and produce images of the birds during the day and at night.

The real-time web tv we are streaming this year is light years ahead of what we were able to offer last year” says Katzner “By streaming real-time tv images, with sound, viewers will be able to see intimate details of peregrine falcon life that were previously not available to anyone, even the most careful scientists.

Peregrine falcons were once one of the most widespread birds in the world, but the use of long-lived pesticides such as DDT caused females to produce thin eggshells that often cracked during incubation. By the 1960s, populations crashed throughout much of the world, and in 1974, peregrines were listed as Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. After a nation-wide recovery program enabled the species to make a comeback, the peregrine falcon was federally de-listed in 1999.

The peregrine falcon continues to be listed as a Pennsylvania Endangered species under the state wildlife code because their populations have not fully recovered here. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is the official regulatory and management agency for peregrines in the Commonwealth. The National Aviary collaborates with the Game Commission to increase local peregrine falcon populations and educate the public about this remarkable bird.

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The urban peregrine falcon recovery project is a project of the National Aviary
conducted in partnership with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy,
University of Pittsburgh, Cathedral of Learning, Gulf Tower, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, PixController www.wildearth.tv, Robert Pierce and Associates, and numerous private citizens who have lent their support.

The National Aviary works to inspire respect for nature through an appreciation of birds.