Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

Bridge nesting boxes boost State

In 1983, after decades of absence in New York, the first pair of peregrine falcons returned to nest on New York City bridges, and peregrine populations have been increasing ever since. In 1998, when New York State Department of Transportation workers noticed peregrines nesting above a pier on the Dunn Memorial Bridge - a bridge spanning the Hudson River between Albany and the City of Rensselaer - they took steps to protect the pair. Before the bridge deck was reconstructed, they built nesting boxes on two piers in the center of the bridge. For three successive years following the construction, the endangered birds have returned to the bridge - each time to the same nesting box - and have successfully hatched and fledged chicks.

--Apr 25, 2003

Steve Radzyminski, (518) 485-0969 or sradzyminski@dot.state.ny.us

Workers in hydraulic lift install nesting boxes for peregrine falcons on underside of Dunn Memorial Bridge

New York Department of Transportation photo

Workers install nesting boxes for peregrine falcons on the Dunn Memorial Bridge

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On or Near Bridges - New York