Peregrine falcon nest in Kansas City is on camera and online for viewing

Kansas City, Mo. – Peregrine falcons are tending a nest on a ledge at the American Century Investments tower at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, and the nest can be watched online. A digital camera is trained on the nest. Peregrine falcon nest boxes in urban and rural areas are a partnership between the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), private businesses, and other conservation partners.

Falcon nests are fun to watch. On March 10, the camera showed the Plaza birds weathering a late winter snowstorm. But soon, eggs will be visible. After the chicks hatch, viewers can watch the parents bring food and feed them. The young falcons growth and behavior changes weekly until they fledge in early summer.

Cliff ledges are the traditional nesting spots for falcons. In re-introduction efforts, nest boxes have been placed on tall structures such as building ledges or power plant smokestacks. MDC biologists monitor the nests and in late spring they affix leg bands to young falcons to help track population trends and movements. A decades-long program of providing nest boxes has helped falcons recover in Missouri from endangered status to a species of conservation concern.

Falcons that hatch and fledge in urban areas migrate throughout the Midwest, forming new pairs and producing the next generations of falcons. For example, on March 9, MDC crews at Shepard of the Hills Fish Hatchery near Branson photographed a young female falcon that was banded last spring at the Great River Energy Plant at Elk River, Minn. The bird was identified by a leg band. MDC and partners will be watching for nesting success at nest boxes in several Missouri locations this spring.

To watch the falcon nest at American Century Investments, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIwCBks7HDg. For more information about peregrine falcons in Missouri, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zrd.