UMass falcon, campus webcam star, dies

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) - The University of Massachusetts is mourning the death of the Amherst campus' most popular webcam star.

A male peregrine falcon that has nested atop the 27-story W. E. B. Du Bois Library for 12 years and sired 34 chicks with the same mate has died.

The webcam that has captured the pair raising their chicks has been viewed by hundreds of thousands. In 2014 alone, there were 269,279 views.

The bird was found injured last week in a snowbank near campus and died Wednesday while awaiting transport to a wildlife rehabilitation center.

Tom French, a biologist with the state wildlife department, said the bird was 14, a ripe old age for a peregrine falcon.

French says the library nesting box will likely be occupied by a new falcon family this spring.

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Online: UMass falcon cam, http://www.library.umass.edu/falcons