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Peregrine Falcon Webcam - Buffalo, NY

News from Buffalo's Peregrine Falcon Nest

Two Peregrine Falcon chicks born in May 2007 hudddle near their mother in the nest box on the Statler Buidling

A watchful adult female falcon overlooks her chicks. Photo taken from the web cam in May 2007.

To view a live feed of the falcon's nest, visit the Buffalo Audubon's Society's website. (Click on the Buffalo Audubon Live Falcon Cam link in right hand column of this page under Offsite Links.)

Buffalo's falcon camera is a joint effort between the Buffalo Audubon Society, DEC, and the Buffalo Ornithological Society.

A Peregrine Falcon chick born after banding by DEC biologists on May 29, 2007.

One of the four chicks banded this May.

Currently, the Peregrine Falcon pair nesting atop the Statler building in Buffalo is busy raising their four chicks that hatched earlier this spring. On May 29th, 2007, DEC biologists examined and placed leg bands on each of the chicks; reporting them all to be healthy and in good physical condition. Of the four chicks, three are female; one is male.

The adult female falcon is new to Buffalo this year. The previous female falcon died in October 2006 from a parasite called Trichomoniasis gallinae. She had nested in Buffalo for eight years and had raised 23 chicks from her nest atop the Statler building.

More About Buffalo's Peregrines

The window on the Statler building where the falcon's nest is located.An eyrie (or aerie) is a nest on a cliff or mountain top or a brood of birds of prey. While there are no mountains in Buffalo, there is a pair of endangered Peregrine Falcons (birds of prey) nesting on a manmade "cliff" in the urban landscape. The Peregrine Falcons reside in a 19th floor window of the Statler Building on Niagara Square, facing Franklin Street and the Buffalo Convention Center. Peregrine Falcons have nested in Buffalo since 1996.

The Peregrine's nest is called "scrape," and is simply a shallow impression made in the gravel that lines the nest box. The falcons in Buffalo use a nest box built by DEC biologists. The camera is mounted in the top rear of the nest box. DEC Wildlife staff will continue to monitor the peregrines to determine the success of this year's nest.

A view of the nest box from May 2006 with chicks.A typical Peregrine egg clutch contains between one and five eggs, with one egg being laid every other day. Both the male and female parent birds incubate the eggs. The eggs hatch approximately 28 days after the last egg has been laid.

During May and June, the adult Peregrines raise the chicks in the nest. The young will grow from their small, down-covered hatchling stage to the wing-strengthening, pre-flight exercising stage of fledglings. Once the young birds fledge, or leave the nest on their first flight, they will become less visible on the live-feed monitors and birdcam, but more visible to visitors of downtown Buffalo.

A view of falcons in the nest box from June 2006.The Peregrine Falcon is listed as an endangered species under the New York State Environmental Conservation Law.

With Special Thanks

Live-feed video monitors, located in a vacant storefront of the Statler Building, have been in place at the nest since March 1999, thanks to the efforts of the Buffalo Ornithological Society, DEC and Northstar Development. The two live-feed video monitors are set up to give downtown visitors a view of the Peregrine's nest from the street or from inside the Statler lobby.

In addition, a web site was created by Buffalo Audubon Society and DEC. Support for this project was provided by the Watchable Wildlife Program by DEC's Bureau of Wildlife.

Additional Nest Sites in the Buffalo Niagara Area

Peregrine Falcons have nested in the Niagara Gorge since 1998, and for the first time, an additional pair has been found nesting in a nest box placed by the NYS Thruway Authority on the north Grand Island Bridge.