Hopes Run High for Nesting Peregrine Falcons

By Peter Iglinski

Rochester, NY – Rochester area birders are keeping a close watch on the downtown falcon nest box--perhaps closer than usual.

The box was moved from Kodak Tower to the Times Square Building two summers ago and can be seen on the Rochester Falconcam website. Falcons have been nesting in the box ever since 1998. But that changed last year. Spokesman Jim Pisello says the previous male, Kaver, did not return last year, and a new pair of falcons injured Mariah, the female, in a territory battle downtown last Easter Sunday.

Last year was the first time falcons did not nest in the Falconcam box.

The new falcons are Archer, the male, and Beauty, the female. Pisello is hoping eggs will be laid sometime in mid-April.

Mariah was seriously injured in last year's battle. Pisello says she was treated by a veterinarian outside Syracuse and released into the wild last June. She was last seen in Irondequoit in October, but has not been spotted since then.

Mariah hatched 43 eggs during her ten years. Pisello believes that's a US record for the most successfully fledged young by a falcon at a single site.

Pisello says Archer, the new male, is Mariah's grandson.

You can watch Rochester's Peregrine Falcons at the Rochester Falconcam website.