Nestbox News is an account of activity at a nestbox atop Mack-Cali Realty Corporation's 101 Hudson St., Jersey City, by biologists in the Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP). Follow this chronicle of the nesting behavior and activity of peregrine falcons and their chicks.

We encourage viewers to help support the webcam and all the work of the ENSP through the Income Tax Check-off for Wildlife and Conserve Wildlife License Plates. We appreciate and value your support, as well as the support we've received from the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and its staff at 101 Hudson - without their cooperation the nestbox and webcam would not be possible.

May 20, 2013 - Morning Update
Staff, along with division volunteers and dedicated falcon observers Mike Girone and Bonnie Talluto, have been closely monitoring the webcam since the chick swap on Friday afternoon. While the chick transported to The Raptor Trust did not appear healthy, the Sea Isle City chick is behaving normally, feeding well and most importantly, has been accepted by the adults. Both adults are staying close to the nestbox, brooding the chick during the cool damp weekend and providing plenty of food. We're waiting for an update on the condition of the original chick, but it does appear to have some serious issues.

Hopefully the drama of the past week is behind us as we watch the new chick grow. We'll determine its sex the first week of June when biologists return to Jersey City to examine and band it. Meanwhile, we'll keep watching.

For more photos from Jersey City the day of the swap, visit Bird Cams Around the World. Thanks to Bonnie for the photo of the female and new chick to the right.

May 17, 2013, 2:40 p.m. - Mission Accomplished!
Biologist Mick Valent, along with Mackenzie Hall of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, successfully removed the ailing chick and infertile eggs and placed the Sea Isle City chick in the nestbox. Moments ago an adult entered the box (see photo to right) and briefly brooded the chick. This behavior is what we had hoped to see - a quick "adoption" of the new chick, though it is impossible to tell just what the Jersey City peregrines perceive or "think" about the past half hour.

The chick is now en route to The Raptor Trust for examination and care. We'll update this page later tonight or tomorrow morning, but viewers will know about as much as we do for now.

May 17, 2013, 8:00 a.m. - A Plan Is Formulated
We have been carefully watching the chick that hatched on Tuesday morning, and we've concluded that the hatchling is not well. It seems to suffer some of the same symptoms we saw in the third of three chicks hatched in 2011. That young one also failed to thrive and, despite heroic treatment that lasted for months, he eventually died. It seems that this nest is having more than its share of problems.

In the nest on Thursday, the chick was not sitting up, which is necessary for it to be fed. It had gotten fed each day, but on Thursday the chick seemed worse, spending most of its time lying down and even apparently stuck on its back. This is not normal for a chick that is two days old. The other three eggs have not hatched and we don't expect them to hatch at this point. The adults are still trying to incubate them, which is also distracting them from the chick.

We may be seeing the lower nest success that is characteristic of older peregrine falcons. While our female remains an excellent caregiver, her eggs have lower viability, and the chick may suffer from a genetic abnormality. The eggs could also be carrying accumulated toxins that are interfering with hatching and normal chick development.

In the interest of keeping this pair active at the nest site, we will be providing them with a foster chick this afternoon that we're transferring from a four-chick nest in Sea Isle City. Biologist Mick Valent will put the chick in and remove the eggs and the sick hatchling. He will deliver the hatchling to The Raptor Trust, where we hope to get a clue as to what is wrong. The eggs will be valuable samples for future analysis.

Fostering chicks into nests is a proven technique and we fully expect the Jersey City adults will quickly adopt the new nestling. By doing this, we will allow the birds to fulfill their nesting cycle, giving full attention to raising one chick. The donor nest also benefits, because the adults will have a little less work raising their three remaining chicks. At both sites, we raise the chances of ultimate survival for all the young.

May 16, 2013, 1:30 p.m. - Problem In the Nest
Although staff observed two short feedings between prior to 8:00 a.m. this morning, it appears the lone hatchling is failing to thrive. When the adults have given us a view of the chick it was observed on its back; around 1:00 p.m. the female arrived with prey, but the chick remained on its back and was unable to feed - chicks must be able to sit up to accept food.

It could be any number of reasons, or combination of reasons, that this situation is what we're observing. Unfortnately, there is no action we can take to help the chick at this time, and to so would likely be futile in the end.

Meanwhile, the female continues to incubate the three eggs which are almost certainly beyond the point of hatching. A visit to administer medication early next week may have a different purpose if things do not turn around soon. But we'll be watching.

May 15, 2013, Afternoon Report: Still One Chick Staff observed a "changing of the guard" at the nest with the arrival of fresh prey for the chick around 1:00 p.m. At that time there was still just one hatchling, and as time passes there is speculation that none of the three remaining eggs will hatch. Peregrines tend to be synchronous hatchers - since incubation doesn't begin until a full clutch of eggs is laid the eggs hatch at roughly the same time. This trait gives the entire brood an equal start in life. Since it's now been at least 30 hours since the chick was observed there is an increasing possibility that the other eggs are infertile and won't hatch. Last year the female produced a clutch of five eggs. A larger clutch can indicate an older bird, and should the other three eggs fail to hatch it would be further indication the female is nearing the end of her productive years. But should there be just one chick, it's sure to benefit from being the sole focus of her attention! For followers of Nestbox News interested in more photos from Jersey City, as well as information about other nest webcams, visit Bird Cams Around the World. May 14, 2013, 9:30 a.m. - HATCHING! The day we've been waiting for has arrived! When biologist Kathy Clark tuned into the webcam around 6:00 a.m. this morning she was greeted with a quick look at the first Jersey City chick of 2013. As of 10:00 a.m. we cannot verify if any other eggs have hatched, though most eggs tend to hatch within 24 hours of the first. The remains of a partially eaten eggshell sits just in front of the adult who has been keeping a curious chick from making its way out from under her. We'll keep watching, and hope our readers/viewers do so as well; as the day warms we'll hopefully get a look at what's going on beneath the brooding adult. We'll update Nestbox News with any major developments. 2:00 p.m. UPDATE - Those viewing at this time were treated to one of the first, if not the first, feeding (staff doesn't have the luxury of just watching the webcam!). At this time there is just one chick, but we're hopeful the remaining three eggs will hatch soon.

May 6, 2013 - Video is LIVE!
The problems and complexities of modern technology, servers, firewalls, etc., have been solved, and the streaming-live video is finally here for viewing!

We are excited to share with you the live view atop 101 Hudson Street in Jersey City. The peregrines have been diligently incubating their four eggs since April 11th, and we are looking forward to hatching next Monday or Tuesday. The streaming video is much more interesting to watch than the still pictures (which have been available since early April), and the action during and after hatching makes viewing fascinating and addictive for most of us!

The problems of this past month are a combination of old equipment (some of it in place since 2001), outdated software, and the restrictions of the state website. We are hoping that with viewer contributions, our partner, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, will be able to replace the system with a new digital one, and make the webcam available via an independent provider. We hope you'll consider partnering on this: watch for the Peregrine Webcam Campaign on the CWF website in the coming weeks. And thank you!!

Now...go enjoy the Live Peregrine Webcam!

April 18, 2013 - Incubation quiet time
Incubation seems to be in full, quiet, swing since the fourth egg was seen on April 11th. So, assuming all goes well, we can expect hatching around May 13th-14th.

Without the streaming video available, and relying only on still images, viewers can see that most of the incubation is by the larger female. The male has been seen sitting nearby, but most often is out of camera range. He has the most responsibility for catching and delivering prey, while she will do most of the incubating; but the eggs are never left unattended for more than a couple minutes.

We are still working on getting the streaming video running and hope to have that available soon!

April 11, 2013 - Four Eggs: A Complete Clutch?
Dedicated viewer Mike Girone informed us via e-mail late yesterday that he finally got a view of the nestbox without an adult in it - and observed a fourth egg had been laid. A peregrine clutch typically consists of 3-4 eggs, but five eggs have been documented at other nests, including this one last year. We'll be watching to see if incubation now begins in earnest, or if the female will duplicate her performance of last year.

April 8, 2013 - A Third Egg
Alert viewer Mike Girone notified us this morning before 9:00 a.m. that it appeared a third egg had now been laid. With the cool evenings and mornings the adults have been spending a fair amount of time on the eggs, making it difficult to confirm. Then, shortly after 11:00 a.m., Mike and staff noted the third egg when the adults were outside the box.

Incubation won't begin in earnest until the female has finished the clutch. Last year five eggs were laid - an indication the female is getting to be an older bird. We'll continue monitoring the nestbox, as we hope you are as well!

April 5, 2013, 9:50 a.m. - A Second Egg! While updating the webcam pages to reflect the onset of images from the nestbox, staff was able to observe the female atop the single egg first noted yesterday - and when she left, we observed that the second egg had been laid. This indicates the first egg was laid on Wednesday, April 3. The season is truly under way now! April 4, 2013 - We're live! And there's one egg so far! Thanks to Webmaster Paul Tarlowe, the webcam is live - for now we'll have to settle for the still camera picture, until we figure out why the streaming video isn't working. But, hey, we're glad it's ON and not permanently OFF for lack of funding!!! Okay, you're going to hear a lot about funding this spring. The Endangered & Nongame Species Program cannot continue to pay the expenses of this webcam. We got a reprieve last month, with permission to turn the system on, only on condition that the non-profit Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ raises the funds to pay expenses this season and going forward in 2014. Now please understand, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation is also on a shoestring budget, so they will be working to find sponsors and donors who (like all of us) love the peregrine webcam and can help out. We'll be recommending that donors visit www.ConserveWildlifeNJ.org/getinvolved/donate/ for more information. So, back to peregrines: Look for more eggs to be laid, about one every two days, until there is a full clutch of three or four, that's when incubation will begin in earnest. Welcome to spring atop 101 Hudson Street!

March 14, 2013 - Another Season Begins
Welcome to the 2013 edition of Nestbox News! Many visitors to NN have been following the Jersey City peregrines for many years - perhaps a decade or more! - and we are glad to have them back. And to new viewers we extend a warm welcome and hope you become a regular visitor to the peregrine webcam pages.

As far as the activity at 101 Hudson Street, we are assuming the 2013 nesting season is already under way. Unfortunately, due to budgetary constraints we have not yet activated the cameras but hope to be streaming video and still images before egg laying begins later this month.

We are sure this will be another exciting year observing the peregrine falcons using the nestbox maintained by the NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program. The first nestbox was installed in 2001 and has fostered the successful fledging of young every year since (see About the Peregrine Project for a history of the project). Last year was a difficult year, with only one of three fledglings known to have survived through the summer after the hatching of three eggs from a clutch of five. (See the 2012 Nestbox News for details.)

We do want to remind the viewing public that funding for projects such as this remains hard to obtain - the Peregrine Project, like other projects conducted by the ENSP, is funded entirely by grants and donations. Please help this project continue by making a direct donation to the ENSP, or by "checking-off" for wildlife on your state income tax return. By becoming a partner in the work of ENSP you can proudly feel you are doing your part in protecting our endangered and threatened species.