NJ / Atlantic City - 2010

[Alison]

2010 NESTING SEASON

A pair of falcons in Atlantic City has four chicks:

An endangered bird species is nesting on top of Atlantic City casino hotel

For more than 20 years, peregrine falcons have been returning to a ledge outside the Hilton Casino's penthouse suite to raise their young. Kathy Clark, principal zoologist for the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program, visits the site each breeding season to put leg bands on the nestlings and check the health of the endangered birds. Hotel employees welcome and embrace the annual return of the hotel visitors. They often help to keep an eye on the birds and assist in the banding process. The peregrine falcon population has been stable over the last five to seven years. There are currently an estimated 20 pairs statewide. While they have made a comeback from extinction in New Jersey, the birds in our state show higher levels of contaminants such as DDT, PCBs and mercury than other peregrines along the Mid-Atlantic region. It's still unclear why that is and what that means for their long-term population viability here.

http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2010/06/peregrine_falcons_nesting_on_t.html

There is a banding video at the link.