Birdwatchers love the great outdoors, but sometimes it’s easier to get a close-up view of our finest feathered friends in cyberspace. One such opportunity can be enjoyed through the Pittsburgh FalconCam, which offers streaming video lines-of-sight into the nests of peregrine falcons at the top of the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh and on a ledge outside the 37th floor of the Gulf Tower in Downtown.
The cameras capturing the action on the otherwise inaccessible perches operate continuously as a project of the National Aviary’s Department of Conservation and Field Research in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The recent excitement in the sitings has come from the appearance of eggs in the Gulf Tower nest–and anticipation of the chicks that will be hatching from them.
“After observing the male and female falcons actively defending their nest sites and engaging in courtship behavior these past few weeks, we were thrilled to see the first eggs,” says Dr. Todd Katzner, director of conservation and field research at the National Aviary. “The birds, who we believe to be Louie and Tasha 2 at the Gulf Tower, and E2 and Dorothy at Pitt, are being closely followed not only by researchers, but by peregrine falcon lovers around the world who log on daily to watch the progress of the incubation and chick rearing.”
The FalconCam can be accessed through the website of the National Aviary here.
Source: The National Aviary
Writer: Joseph Plummer
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