BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The eagle camera in Washington has been enormously popular around the country, but did you know Buffalo has its own version of a bird-watching live stream?
The “Statler City Falcon Cam” gives folks a live bird’s eye view of a peregrine falcon nest atop one of the city's most iconic buildings.
"There have been falcons living downtown in Buffalo since 1996,” said Statler City marketing manager Conor Hawkins.
Peregrine falcons, once endangered, are still a protected species. That's partly why there's a lot of interest in the ones that have nested at Statler City for nearly 20 years.
"We've been getting calls for a long, long time now to have a web cam at the building,” Hawkins said. “And lucky enough that we were sitting around the table one time with VeraView, and they said ‘Yeah we can do that.’"
VeraView, LLC specializes in video conferencing, long distance communications, telemedicine, and the like.
Tom Sauter, vice president of engineering at VeraView, is the one who agreed to climb out on a ledge and install the camera.
"You have to like heights. We're definitely 18 stories above the ground, so that's a little uncomfortable,” Sauter said. "The falcons are defensive of their nest, so you do have the occasion to get dive bombed."
Thanks to his act of bravery, you can now watch these peregrines 24/7.
It's helpful to the D.E.C. too, which tracks the falcons. Since 2010, Statler City has provided the D.E.C. special access to the nest so the agency can band the birds. That access point is basically the roof.
High up, on a level above the 18th floor -- that looks almost untouched since the 1920s -- is where the D.E.C has exclusive rights.
"Couple years ago, a bird … was found down in St. Petersburg, Florida, so they're all over the place. It's great that we're able to keep track of them, and the D.E.C. lets us know where our birds end up,” said Hawkins.
The livestream has only been up for a month. Both Statler and VeraView expect it will become very popular, very soon.
"With over 4,500 hits in just the last two weeks, and they haven't even laid their eggs yet,” said Sauter. “So we're really expecting a lot more people to start watching, and hopefully get involved in the conservation community."
WATCH HERE: http://www.statlercity.com/falcon-cam/