New chicks move in
Peregrine falcon babies get banded atop Jersey City waterfront tower
Read more: Hudson Reporter - New chicks move in Peregrine falcon babies get banded atop Jersey City waterfront tower. Look up in the sky at Exchange Place and you may just see two adult peregrine falcons protecting their nest, which sits 42 stories up on the rooftop of 101 Hudson St. near the waterfront.
A pair of recently hatched chicks were banded on May 31 by wildlife biologist Kathleen Clark from the Endangered and Nongame Species program of the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife. Since they’re endangered, the state uses the bands to track the birds’ survival and lifespan.
Peregrine falcons began nesting on the office building over a decade ago, and the state installed a webcam in 2001 to observe them. The two new chicks were first spotted via the webcam, which has been tracking the nesting season since late March.
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“[The peregrine falcons] are a good reflection of what is going on in the environment.” – Kathleen Clark
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The male and female chick were hatched on May 6.
“There is a small window of opportunity that is good for banding – 3.5 weeks is right in the middle of it,” said Clark last week. “The male is ready to fly at five weeks old and then the female takes a little bit longer, six weeks. Females are slightly larger for birds of prey.”
Earlier this year, as viewers watched, eggs began appearing in the nest box. A total of four eggs were laid but only three hatched. Viewers saw the adult male and female take turns keeping the eggs warm.
The third peregrine falcon was sent to Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research in Delaware to be treated for what looked like a deformity.
In regard to the third chick, “He is still alive and looking good,” Clark noted. “He will be a candidate for release into the wild.”
Keeping track of the peregrine falcons
Clark has been on the job for 25 years as the lead on the peregrine falcon, bald eagle, and osprey projects and the southern “landscape” region of the state. She explained that banding has become very important as a long-term method to monitor the birds.
“We get a good idea of who birds are, how long they are living, where they migrate to, and where they are nesting.” Clark said.
Clark and her volunteer assistant, Michael Girone, made their way across a 15-foot walk on Tuesday morning to retrieve the chicks, using a large umbrella to void off aggressive attack dives by the parent falcons. Each peregrine falcon received two bands, one issued by the government with an identification number and a second color band placed on the other leg to indicate geographic region. The lightweight bands, sized to fit, do not harm the birds or prevent them from flight.
Reviving the population
The peregrine falcon population plunged in the 1950s and ’60s after they became exposed to the chemical DDT, an insecticide that was banned as of 1972. A subsequent widespread recovery effort across the eastern states in the 1970s involved captive breeding of individuals and the releasing of juvenile falcons into the wild. It resulted in the first nesting pair by 1980.
According to Clark, the situation has improved since then, with 24 nesting pairs to date statewide.
A bird’s eye view of the environment
Harmful substances and chemicals that seep into the environment through improper disposal of waste usually end up being ingested by the peregrine falcon, since the bird’s diet consists of eating other birds.
“[The peregrine falcons] are a good reflection of what is going on in the environment,” said Clark. She said whichever chemicals aren’t disposed of properly end up in landfills and water. They eventually work their way up the food chain. The chemicals reach the urban peregrine falcons as they feed off of pigeons.
“As far as we know, chemicals aren’t threatening peregrine survivor now,” noted Clark.
While the peregrine falcon population has exceeded pre-DDT levels, the state is not yet ready to have them taken off the endangered species list. New Jersey will not be ready to upgrade the peregrine falcon status until the birds do well in their historic habitats such as the nearby Palisade cliffs, which they recently began using.
Urban bird watching
For the next couple of weeks, you can watch the peregrine falcons via the live webcam (see below). Once the birds are ready to fly, you’ll be able to see them from street level as the parents train the young to catch prey. The parents will typically drop their prey in midair so their offspring learn to dive to catch them.
Clark said the parents take care of the chicks until they are proficient in flying and catching their own prey.
“You have to listen for them,” she said. “The adults are very vocal – go there and look up – and watch for them; they are in the air a lot.”
The best times to see the birds are early morning and late afternoon during the cooler hours of the day. The peregrine falcon chicks will be in the area for about six weeks after they learn to fly. Then, they will start making a longer journey out to other regions. Past falcons from Jersey City have wound up in other nearby cities such as Elizabeth.
The Hudson Reporter
