First baby falcon has hatched

Evan Bourtis

[anvplayer video=”5111475″ station=”998131″]

ROCHESTER N.Y. (WHEC) — After over a month of incubation on the Times Square Building’s nesting box, a baby falcon has hatched.

The livestream on Rochester Falcon Cam shows the falcon’s mother, Nova, interacting with the newborn. Nova laid the first of her four eggs on April 19 and her most recent egg six days after that.

You can watch a live video of the nesting box on Falcon Cam’s Facebook page or website on channel 1 Live.

Falcon Cam said that they were expecting the first of the eggs to hatch this week. Another egg has a crack, so another baby falcon, called an eyas, could be coming soon.

Nova came to the Times Square Building shortly after her partner, Neader, suffered the death of his longtime partner Beauty. Falcon Cam reported that Nova and Neader were a couple on April 7, after observing them spending time together in the nesting box.

Peregrine Falcons are on New York State’s list of endangered species. This population started declining after the 1940s because of exposure to the pesticide DDT, which caused eggshells to thin and crack. The Department of Environmental Conservation has run a longtime program to preserve falcon nesting sites and led other initiatives to restore their population.

[Rochester Falcon Cam]