7 Baby Peregrine Falcons To Fly Over Bergen And Hudson Counties, Thanks To Port Authority

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — Seven baby peregrine falcons were recently hatched in North Jersey, and are now perched above the George Washington Bridge and Bayonne Bridges.

The Port Authority has been on a mission for several decades to revitalize the region's peregrine falcon population, they have said. The falcons are an "indicator species," meaning they're seen as a sign of the health of the environment.

"The bird remains listed as endangered in New York state, sparking a collaborative effort between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the city Department of Environmental Protection that has been in place for more than three decades," the PA said Friday. "The peregrine falcon is seen as a bellwether for the overall environment. When it shows up, it signals to conservationists that the environment is healthy and functioning."

As a top predator, the peregrine falcon significantly affects all levels of the environment, the PA said, down to insects and seeds that other birds eat.

The boy and girl eyasses were born in mid-April about 400 feet above the Hudson River, perched inside a tower of the George Washington Bridge, the PA said. Later that month, about 29 miles south, two girls and a boy cracked through their shells in the 45-foot tower in the Kill Van Kull waterway, in the shadow of the Bayonne Bridge.

But in a few weeks, the birds may fly the coop for good.

The birds are being "nurtured by their falcon parents with love, care and a lot of squawking," the PA said. Roughly around five to six weeks after hatching and reaching adult size, the chicks will begin flapping their wings on the edge of their nests and eventually take their first flights from the nest.

By June or early July, the eyasses will leave home. Some may migrate down the Atlantic coast to Central and South America, while others may travel as far west as Wisconsin.

Click here to learn more and see photos: https://www.panynj.gov/port-authority/en/blogs/land/7-baby-falcons-hatch-at-port-authority-bridges.html

If you want to watch them grow, check out the free public 24/7 livestream of the nest at the Bayonne Bridge.