Did window washers try to evict endangered falcons from NJ tower?

JERSEY CITY — State animal officials are investigating whether window washers sprayed a young peregrine falcon from a nest on the roof of a 41-story building on Sunday.

One of the young birds, known as eyases, was later located injured on the street and taken to The Raptor Trust bird sanctuary in Morris County, while the other remains at the nest. The third eyas has not been found.

According to the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, which maintains a webcam on the nest, the window washers arrived about 8:45 a.m. at the building on Hudson Street and were "actively trying to remove them from the area so they could do their job."

Video shows the adult falcons attacking and dive-bombing the workers to protect their nest, according to the foundation. In the commotion, two of the young birds, which are 5 to 6 weeks old, flew to a ledge while the third remained on the roof.

Foundation members said video from the "Falcon Cam" showed the bird on the roof being sprayed with water from above, which they believe was an attempt to push the bird off the roof.

Foundation members tried to contact building management and alert them as to what had happened. The workers were later escorted from the property.

The foundation said the eyases are at a critical time in their lives, according to the Foundation.

"Pushing (by disturbing them) the birds to fledge early can be disastrous. Since they are unable to fly on their own and without much skill, they often land below or another ledge or end up on the streets below," the group wrote on their Facebook page.

The foundation praised building management.

"They love the falcons just as much as we do and are disturbed that this occurred," the foundation said in response to a comment on their Facebook page.

The Department of Environmental Protection set up a "Falcon Cam" on the nest in 2000. The foundation took over the operation of the cams in February, according to its website.

DEP spokesman Larry Hajna told New Jersey 101.5 that the agency is investigating but did not provide further information. The foundation referred questions to the DEP.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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