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This video is updated daily and made up of still images captured by the camera every 15 seconds on the previous day.
What’s Happening at the Nest?
We’re disheartened to report that on Friday (6/12) while tracking the fledglings and adults downtown, another fledgling was observed colliding with a building. During monitoring efforts, one of our team members witnessed an aerial prey exchange between an adult and a juvenile. Following this event, the juvenile circled back towards the Bank of America building which it hit, dying immediately on impact. Staff arrived within minutes of the collision, and the bird was identified as White.
This loss is deeply saddening for our team who have collectively spent hundreds of hours monitoring these birds from hatch through fledge. The events of this year serve as a sobering reminder of the challenges urban wildlife face and highlight the ongoing need to create safer urban landscapes for wildlife. This is especially important given that peregrines across the globe are drawn to nesting in urban areas. New York City for example boasts one of the largest breeding concentrations of peregrine falcons in the world. Urban areas are especially attractive to the species as they offer plentiful prey bases, clear sightlines for hunting, and fewer predators. Though cities like Richmond offer several advantages which attract the birds, a tradeoff is that they also expose both adults and young to mortality through collisions with buildings.
Both Black and Plum are known to still be active, with volunteers reporting four falcons simultaneously in view today (6/15) dispersed between the south-facing TowneBank sign, the west-facing and south-facing Truist signs, and the northeast corner of the Federal Reserve building. We expect both Black and Plum to continue interacting with their parents over the next several weeks as they hone their flying skills and learn to hunt prior to setting out on their own.
Although the outcome of this year isn’t what any of us had hoped for, we feel it is important to highlight the broader success of the Richmond nesting peregrines. Since 2003, 53 chicks have successfully fledged from this site, and eight building-collision fatalities have been documented among those birds. Numerous Richmond offspring have gone on to contribute to the greater peregrine population, helping to ensure the continued recovery and growth of the species. Notably, Red, a 2021 fledgling, established a breeding territory in Norfolk in 2022, where he and his mate, 32/BH, have successfully raised chicks every year since. Another 2021 fledgling, Orange, is strongly suspected, based on a partial band read, to have nested in the mountains last year. Given the limited number of breeding pairs in the western portion of the state, this was an especially notable discovery.
While losses such as White’s and Yellow’s are difficult, these stories serve as a reminder that the majority of fledglings leave downtown to begin lives of their own, hopefully going on to contribute to the next generation of peregrines across the region.
DWR staff evaluated Plum on 6/10 after she was grounded. Ultimately she was deemed uninjured and returned to the ledge.
DWR biologists and volunteers set out on a third day of Fledgewatch with the goal of documenting additional flights and landings by Black and Plum, whom we had seen fly on a limited basis on Wednesday. Black was still on the Federal Reserve upon our arrival this morning but showed strong flights and landings and was observed being fed by the adults. White continued to impress with his aerial skills and spent a good bit of the day atop the Dominion building where he was also delivered prey by the adults. Unfortunately, we were unable to definitively locate Plum, and by the end of the day her whereabouts still remained unknown. Having said that, repeated flights by the adults, once with a prey item, west of the Plaza near the VA Lottery building and to the Riverfront Plaza towers suggest the possibility that there were two juveniles, we suspect Plum and Black, in those areas, although searches from street-level did not turn them up. Despite this, we remain optimistic considering the number of rooftop locations where these birds can tuck in and go completely undetected for half a day or more.
DWR is unfortunately unable to continue committing the full level of staff resources which typically averages 10-15 employees working anywhere from 4-14 hour days to continue monitoring at this initial level. However, DWR personnel will check in on the birds tomorrow and in the coming week and will report any significant updates on the blog.
7:50 AM: We will have staff arriving on site within the hour so stay tuned for updates from day two of Fledgewatch. We are starting the day with Plum still on the nest box, having recently been fed by one of the adults around 7 am this morning. Once on site, we will attempt to locate White and Black, and continue monitoring the three birds.
As a quick reminder, Plum is roughly four days younger than her brothers and female falcons which are larger and heavier are typically slower to fledge than males. With this in mind, we are not concerned by the fact that she did not fledge yesterday. Hopefully we will see some action from her today!
10:45 AM: Upon our arrival we received a volunteer report that Black was atop the Federal Reserve (thanks, Lisa!). This was quickly confirmed by staff. The fact that he is perched at this height is incredibly promising as this is one of the highest buildings in the immediate area. White was picked up in flight around Truist with an adult around 10:30 am. After a few circles, he had a smooth landing on Bank of America where he stayed for a short period of time before taking flight again. He was re-spotted shortly after, perched on the west facing side of the HCA building. Plum remains on the nest box, where she appears to be enjoying the fact that she’s no longer sharing a room with her brothers.
4:00 PM: White has been observed in flight and landing well multiple times throughout the day. We’re feeling incredibly optimistic about his skills based on our observations. Black has not moved from the Federal Reserve roof for the duration of the day. He’s had multiple prey deliveries brought to him there and while we haven’t seen flight yet today, we remain happy with his location. Plum fledged around 12:30 pm and after circling around, attempted to land back on Riverfront Tower. She became grounded due to her inability to access a good perch along the tower faces. Staff responded and captured her within minutes, ultimately taking her back up to the roof and putting her back in the pen. After a few minutes she went off the ledge and flew in the direction of the HCA building. Our view of her likely landing was blocked due to some structures atop the roof but based on our observations and some of the adults behaviors, we suspect she is likely still be on this roof.
At this point due to incoming rain and road closures downtown, we are going to stop monitoring for the day but will return for tomorrow in hopes to see Black and Plum in flight.
- Read more updates in the archive…
Internet service to the Falcon Cam provided courtesy of Comcast Business.
The DWR Falcon Cam follows the breeding season of a peregrine falcon pair that nests in downtown Richmond, Virginia. The nest box is located atop the Riverfront Plaza building. If you’re in the area, look up! You may catch a glimpse of the famous birds! We hope each year that the pair will once again choose to nest at this site, so that our camera may provide an educational experience for all to enjoy.