MDC and partners provide second falcon nest cam in KC

Kansas City, Mo. – Fans of peregrine falcon nesting season now have two live web cameras to watch in the Kansas City area. Now online is a camera monitoring a nest high on a smokestack at KCP&L’s Iatan Power Plant north of Weston. Baby falcons appeared to begin hatching out of eggs at the nest, starting on April 24 or April 25, according to ardent nest watchers.

A high definition camera is also trained on a nest box on a ledge at the American Century Investments building at the Country Club Plaza. That nest had four eggs on April 25.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is a key partner in falcon re-introduction programs in the state’s urban areas. MDC first re-introduced peregrine falcons in 1991 at the Commerce Tower building in downtown Kansas City. A nest box there is still active. Peregrine falcons originally nested on cliffs and bluffs. Their numbers dropped after the 1940s due to the pesticide DDT. Re-introductions after DDT was banned utilize ledges, rooftops and smokestacks as spots for falcon nests.

To watch the falcon nest at the Iatan plant, visit https://livestream.com/accounts/8268653/events/4871157?origin=stream_live&mixpanel_id=145a9df00a3194-0c861f848b4eef8-5f056213-1aeaa0-145a9df00a412d&acc_id=8267274&medium=email.

For viewing the Plaza falcons, visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kansas-city-plaza-falcon-cam.