Baby peregrine falcons are nesting atop the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
Three newcomers just landed in New York City, and they’ve set up shop on the Brooklyn Tower of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
A trio of peregrine falcon chicks have hatched and joined their mother in a “specially built nesting box” on top of the nearly 700-foot tower between Brooklyn and Staten Island, the MTA announced on Friday. The chicks were banded for wildlife monitoring on May 24, when they were about three weeks old, so that wildlife experts can more easily track the total number of peregrines in the city and identify them if they get sick or injured.
“Each year, around the end of May, research scientist Chris Nadareski, of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, climbs to the top of the bridges and puts identifying bands on the falcon chicks,” the MTA said in a press release, noting that it has participated in the state’s nesting program since 1983.Marc A. Hermann / MTA / Flickr Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED
By the 1960s, peregrines were nearly wiped out due to pesticides in their food supply, according to the transit authority. They remain on the state’s endangered birds list and, in urban environments, generally like nesting on top of bridges, churches and high-rise buildings, where they can catch sight of prey, including pigeons and small birds. They are also known to mate for life and to return to the same nest to hatch their young.Marc A. Hermann / MTA / Flickr Creative Commons CC BY 2.
And there could be more to come in the city: The MTA said several unhatched peregrine falcon eggs are currently resting atop the Brooklyn Tower of the Marine Parkway Bridge, near the Rockaway Peninsula.Giulia Heyward is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers politics and breaking news. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico.
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