Austin’s only year-round resident peregrine falcon is getting a global audience. The bird, nicknamed Tower Girl, lives on the UT Austin Tower and has a handful of avid fans who love to watch one of the world’s fastest animals dive through the skies above campus. And now, UT’s Biodiversity Center has launched a live-streaming webcam so viewers around the world can observe the raptor in real time.
“I’m excited to see the camera up and running,” says Tim Keitt, a professor of integrative biology. “This is another opportunity to get students and the public excited about birds and nature.”
Birders estimate that Tower Girl has lived on the UT Tower for about eight years. The new camera lets scientists gather important information about her behavior, mating habits, diet and nesting success without disturbing the bird or driving her away.
“Nature that is not observed and appreciated by people becomes endangered through neglect,” Keitt says. “People’s personal experience observing and interacting with biodiversity is how we come to value biodiversity and prioritize its study and conservation.”
The webcam streaming is available at txsci.net/falconcam.
