MDC says watch falcon nests online at three Kansas City area sites

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News from the region
Kansas City
Published Date
05/21/2021
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Kansas City, Mo. – Sometimes they’re hungry, other times they’re sleeping, but newly hatched peregrine falcon chicks and the parent birds feeding them are always interesting. Three cameras are providing streaming video of falcon nests this spring in the Kansas City area. These falcon nests are part of a longtime project by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and partners to return nesting falcons to the state.

Peregrine falcons became endangered due to habitat loss and pesticide use that greatly hampered nesting success. MDC’s program is coordinated with a broader multi-state effort in the Midwest to boost and track falcon populations. Nest boxes were placed on smokestacks and building ledges or roofs. Some nests are in urban areas with tall buildings. Peregrines were originally cliff-nesting birds.

Biologists will soon band young falcons to aid in tracking. The nest box program has been a success and peregrines are now being considered for removal from Missouri’s state endangered list.

“I am currently monitoring nine nests in the Kansas City region,” said Joe DeBold, MDC wildlife damage biologist and urban wildlife biologist. “Each nest is active with confirmed sightings of peregrines. My hope is to band more than 20 chicks this spring, but it’s too early to tell.”

One oddity this spring is that all falcon pairs were on different egg incubation schedules.

“Some were early, some normal timing, and some late,” DeBold said.

To watch young peregrines and their parents online, visit these sites.

The young falcons will fledge, or fly from the nest, in June. Mature falcons move throughout the Midwest. Some falcons banded in Kansas City have come back to make nests while others have been reported at nests in far-away states, such as Texas.

For more information on peregrine falcons in Missouri, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zrd.