Note: More media content is available for this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Bill Egbert
Brooklyn Daily
They’re hottest chicks on Flatbush Avenue, but to see them you have go all the way to the southern end — and then straight up.
Three recently hatched peregrine falcon chicks nesting atop the Rockaway-side tower of the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial bridge got a visit from staff of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and city Department of Environmental Protection last weekend in an annual ritual of the state’s nesting program.
The authority has maintained nesting boxes atop three of the city’s bridges since 1983 and each spring sends wildlife experts climbing up to the lofty reaches to tag the newborn chicks so they can be tracked.
Peregrine falcons were nearly wiped out in the 1960s because of pesticides in their food supply, and remain on the state’s endangered birds list.
The three Marine Park chicks were tagged by wildlife expert Chris Nadareski, as were four chicks at the top the Brooklyn tower of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge, and four nesting atop the Throgs Neck bridge in the Bronx.
The Marine Parkway bridge nesting box was Nadareski shortest commute, located just 215 feet above Jamaica Bay.
The nesting box on the Throgs Neck bridge is 360 feet up, and the Verrazano-Narrows box looms a vertigo-inducing 693 feet above the bay.
Throughout the year the authority tries not to disturb the raptor residences, but especially during the nesting season — expect for the annual tagging mission.
“We frequently have to go to the top of the towers for maintenance work but we are very respectful of the falcons during nesting season and while the chicks are learning to fly,” said Verrazano-Narrows Maintenance Superintendent Daniel Fortunato. “The mama bird in particular is very protective so for the safety of our employees and the birds, we do our best to keep out of their way.”