Friday is Falcon Banding Day at City Hall
May 12, 2009

Bring your binoculars and your coffee and join falcon fans on Fifth Street for this annual tradition. The City’s partners from UC-Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group will rappel over the top of City Hall and into the nest box to place identity bands on and determine the gender of the four young falcon chicks.

For those of you new to Banding Day, this event generally features dramatic flights by the parent falcons as they work to protect their nest from the human intruder.

After we know the genders of the chicks, the finalists for the naming contest will be announced and voting will open.

Friday, May 15, 2009 (times are approximate)
7:00 a.m. – Researchers prepare for descent
7:30 a.m. – Biologist rappels down to the nestbox ledge
8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. – Researchers determine falcons gender (estimate)

San José City Hall, South side, on Fifth Street off of East San Fernando.
200 E. Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA 95113

Update from Clara & Esteban Colbert
March 19, 2009

Sometime between noon and 2:40, San Jose City Hall’s falcon mom Clara laid the fourth egg of the 2009 falcon season.

At 2:05 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, the San Jose City Hall falcons arrived at the first phase of parenthood when Clara delivered the first egg of the San Jose falcon season. Typically, the female falcon continues laying eggs at 1.5 to two day intervals, so we anticipate additional eggs in the coming days. Viewers of the pairs FalconCam watched eagerly from cyberspace as the new egg arrived this afternoon.

Opening up their rooftop nesting box to worldwide viewers of the FalconCam, the San José City Hall Peregrine Falcons have become reality show superstars over the past two years. Now in her third season, falcon mother, Clara, has another new man in her life, Esteban Colbert, named by falcon fans for Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert.

Falcon fans can watch the San José City Hall nestbox live via the FalconCam, a webcam maintained by the City of San José in partnership with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group at the University of California – Santa Cruz. The FalconCam is online at both:

• City of San José website at http://sanjose.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=91
• Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group website at www.scpbrg.org

There are new photos in the City Hall photo gallery: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/falcons/gallery.asp.

Falcon Fans Name Clara’s Handsome New Mate “Esteban Colbert”
February 24, 2009

As it became apparent that last year’s tiercel (male falcon) Carlos was not returning for a second season, falcon fans have been watching the FalconCam to see if a new beau would attempt to woo Clara. Sometime around Valentine’s Day, Falcon Fans saw their first glimpses of Clara’s new beau, who they’ve since named “Esteban Colbert,” after Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert. “I’m delighted that Esteban Colbert appeared at City Hall this week, and that he and Clara are hitting it off,” said San José Mayor Chuck Reed, who press reports have noted is an avid fan of “The Colbert Report.” “Like the City Hall falcons, the original Colbert has proven that with primitive instincts and sharp talons, anyone can survive in modern society.”

In 2008, Clara and Carlos’ three chicks – girls named Cielo and Meyye and a boy named Mercury – hatched on Earth Day, providing a strong reminder that the species had been close to extinction in California as recently as 1970, when only two known pairs of peregrine falcons remained in the wild in California.  Today, thanks to extraordinary conservation work, there are more than 250 nesting pairs, including those at San José City Hall.

Falcon fans can watch the City Hall Falcons live via the FalconCam, a webcam that officially returned on Valentine’s Day. This webcam is maintained by the City of San José in partnership with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group at the University of California – Santa Cruz.