Love is in the Air: Pittsburgh’s Peregrines Prepare For Arrival of Eggs

Pittsburgh FalconCam Goes Live With Enhanced Video, Sound

(PITTSBURGH, March 7, 2010) – Peregrine falcon nesting season is again upon us, and this year, devoted followers of Pittsburgh’s peregrine families – believed to be led by Louie and Tasha2 at the Gulf Tower, downtown, and the Dorothy and E2 at the Cathedral of Learning, Oakland -- will be given an even more intimate view of the birds as they hatch and raise their young.

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 Dr. Todd Katzner, director of Conservation and Field Research at the National Aviary. “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.

Pittsburgh’s falcons are followed closely not only by researchers, but also by peregrine falcon lovers around the world who log on daily to watch the progress of incubation and chick rearing.

“There is a huge network of individuals out there who look forward to this process every year, and who take great joy in following these birds as they hatch and raise their young,” says Katzner. “It’s a wonderful way to experience and learn about wildlife in real time, and we hope that it inspires a commitment to protect these and other wild bird species for future generations.

“Based on the behaviors are we are observing, we expect to see eggs at the nests within the next 1-3 weeks,” says Katzner. “Chicks will hatch about 30 days after the eggs are laid. Three to four weeks after hatching, the chicks will be banded by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and given a full medical exam.

“Watching peregrine falcons is not only a great way to learn about wildlife, but through a special agreement, watchers generate revenue that goes directly to support conservation and field research programs at the National Aviary” says Katzner. “Therefore, just by watching and learning, you are also supporting the National Aviary’s conservation programs, in Pennsylvania and around the world!”

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.