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See The 12 Adorable Baby Falcons Atop Three NYC Bridges
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 2, 2015
Modified Jun 4, 2015
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MTA Photos
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 2, 2015
Modified Jun 4, 2015
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Meet the city's cutest future predators! Twelve falcons have been born at the Verrazano Narrows, Marine Parkway and Throgs Neck bridges, and the MTA has shared these great photos and video of them.
Each of the three bridges have four falcons. Identifying and banding the falcons has become an annual tradition of sorts for the MTA, which announced today:
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 three bridges and puts identifying bands on the falcon chicks. This helps wildlife experts keep track of the number of peregrines in the city, and identify them in case they become sick or injured. This year he was assisted by Barbara Saunders of the state DEC. The bandings took place on May 28 and May 29 when the falcon chicks were about three weeks old.
The agency also noted, "Peregrine falcons were nearly wiped out in the 1960s as a result of pesticides in their food supply, and remain on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation endangered birds list. Urban falcons like to nest atop bridges, church steeples and high-rise buildings because they provide an excellent vantage point for hunting prey, including pigeons and small birds."
There are nesting boxes at the bridges—the Marine Parkway one is 215 feet on top of the Rockaway Tower; the Throgs Neck box is on the Bronx tower, 360 high; and the falcons at the Verrazano have the highest view, at 693 feet up in the air on the Brooklyn tower.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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