Falcon Cam is Back!
Welcome to the 2026 season of the Richmond Falcon Cam, brought to you by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and Comcast Business, who has been providing the internet for the camera since 2017!
We’re happy to report the season is starting out with everyone’s favorite falcon couple, 95/AK (female) and 59/BM (male) making regular, daily appearances on camera. We’ve been seeing lots of courtship behaviors from the duo with 59/BM regularly delivering prey items to 95/AK, beckoning her into the nest box, digging out the scrape (a depression in the gravel that serves as the nest), and lots of low bowing to one another. We invite you to follow along with us as we cover the events of what will hopefully be the pair’s 6th successful nesting season.
If you’re new to Falcon Cam, we encourage you to check out our Falcon Cam FAQ for answers to many frequently asked questions about the birds and to consider subscribing above to receive falcon blog updates directly to your inbox!
WANT A REFRESHER ON WHO THE BIRDS ARE?
95/AK, the Richmond female
95/AK: She’s the reigning Richmond female who first showed up on camera in 2019 as a juvenile bird that, despite her young age and inexperience, displaced an older more mature female who had been frequenting the site. She’s returned to the ledge every year since, producing her first clutch of eggs with 24/AU (now deceased) in 2020. Since then, she has gone on to raise 16 chicks, 15 of which were produced alongside her current mate, 59/BM.
95/AK was banded by a raptor biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on June 4, 2018 at the St. George’s Bridge over the C&D Canal in Delaware. She and her siblings fledged prematurely which resulted in a short stint at Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc, before they were returned to their nest a week later.
Like all adult female peregrines, 95/AK is larger than her mate. She has a distinct, small white spot which is visible amongst the steely-blue/grey feathers under her left eye and a very slight buffy wash to her breast feathers with a small amount of vertical streaking. She can also be identified by the presence of a silver band on her right leg and a black over green band, that reads 95/AK, on her left leg.
59/BM the Richmond male
59/BM: Richmond’s current male falcon first showed up on camera in 2021 following the death of the previous male 24/AU. He is one year younger than 95/AK, having hatched in a nest box atop a power station in Yorktown, VA in 2019. All 15 of his offspring were produced in Richmond with 2021 viewers getting to witness his experiences as a first-time father live on camera.
Despite his Yorktown upbringing, 59/BM has ties back to the Richmond site seeing as his mother nested and hatched three chicks downtown as seen on the 2017 Falcon Cam season. However, after that single year in Richmond, she moved on to Yorktown where she eventually went on to raise our current Richmond male.
59/BM is smaller than his mate and has whiter breast feathers with no vertical streaking or barring within them. He has a dark green band on his right leg and a a black over green band, that reads 59/BM, on his left leg.