Three adorable baby peregrine falcons hatch atop Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge: photos

Lauren Elkies Schram
·1 min read
three peregrine falcon chicks at left and bottom right. Top left is a man holding a falcon with an identifying band on its leg.
three peregrine falcon chicks at left and bottom right. Top left is a man holding a falcon with an identifying band on its leg.

Three adorable baby peregrine falcons have hatched in Gotham on the Brooklyn Tower of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, MTA Bridges and Tunnels said.

The chicks emerged in a specially built nesting box at the top of the 693-foot bridge, joining their peregrine mom.

Pesticides in their food supply almost wiped out peregrine falcons in the 1960s. They have been part of the state nesting program since 1983. Marc A. Hermann / MTA
Pesticides in their food supply almost wiped out peregrine falcons in the 1960s. They have been part of the state nesting program since 1983. Marc A. Hermann / MTA
The city’s environmental protection department puts identifying bands on the birds. Marc A. Hermann / MTA
The city’s environmental protection department puts identifying bands on the birds. Marc A. Hermann / MTA
The chicks, now about three weeks old, were banded for monitoring.. Marc A. Hermann / MTA
The chicks, now about three weeks old, were banded for monitoring.. Marc A. Hermann / MTA

As they do every year around the end of May, officials from the city’s environmental protection department ascended the bridge to put identifying bands on the state endangered birds for wildlife monitoring. The chicks are about three weeks old.

Peregrine falcons were almost decimated by pesticides in their food supply in the 1960s. Since 1983, the birds have been part of the state nesting program, which includes MTA-built nesting boxes at each of the city’s bridges.

More baby falcons are expected to come to the Big Apple soon, as there are unhatched eggs on the Marine Parkway Bridge Brooklyn tower.