February 19, 2009

Clara returns to City Hall for the third year

For the third year in a row, falcon fans can tune in to San Jose ’s wild reality show featuring Clara, a rare peregrine falcon who makes her home in a nest box located atop a ledge on the 18-floor San Jose City Hall.

“I am delighted to have Clara back for another year,” said Mayor Chuck Reed. “She and her young have encouraged schoolchildren throughout our community to learn about nature and conservation while they have delighted fans with their antics. I enjoy watching them soar and hunt outside my office window. Along with the thousands of falcon fans around the globe, I am hoping that Carlos returns and we have another successful season.”

The peregrine falcon 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 Jose City Hall.

City Hall employees first noticed the pair of falcons, whom birdwatchers named Jose and Clara, in the spring of 2006. The Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group placed the nest box on the south end of the City Hall tower later that year.

“Clara and Carlos and their offspring have delighted thousands of people throughout San Jose and all over the world,” said Reed. “The City Hall falcons have a devoted and passionate following online and in visitors who come downtown to do some falcon-watching. It is my hope that this passion will translate to support for the great work that the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group is doing to promote the preservation of these majestic birds for future generations.”

Falcon fans can watch the San Jose City Hall nest box live via the FalconCam, a Web cam that officially returned on Valentine’s Day. This Web cam is maintained by the city of San Jose in partnership with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group at the University of California – Santa Cruz. The FalconCam is online at both the city of San Jose Web site at www.sanjoseca.gov. (Click on FalconCam logo on the right side of the site.) and the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group Web site at www.scpbrg.org.

SCPBRG students and volunteers will play a larger role this year, and during this transition, hours in which staff and volunteers “drive” the camera and follow the nesting falcons and their offspring may be more limited than in the past. Scientists from the SCPBRG will answer questions throughout the season on the nearly 2,000-member online discussion group at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/SanJosePeregrines/. Scientists are also available for school assemblies, which include a visit by one of the SCPBRG’s tame falcons.

Those who are interested in supporting the City Hall falcons and the work of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group can do so by making a tax-deductible donation. Gifts may be made online through UC-Santa Cruz’s Internet giving site at https://npo.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=7267 or by check made out to UCSC Foundation/SCPBRG. Checks may be mailed to Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, University of California Long Marine Lab, Santa Cruz, CA 95064.

Those interested in corporate sponsorship of the FalconCam and science and environmental education programs related to the City Hall falcons, may contact Michelle McGurk at michelle.mcgurk@sanjoseca.gov or (408) 535-4800.