The Bird Woman of Alcatraz

Biologist Lidia D’Amico is a rarity – a Latina, first generation American, the first in her family to go to college and a National Park Service ranger. The same can be said of Lawrencium and Dick, the pair of peregrine falcons who have been breeding on Alcatraz the past few years. Decades ago, the bird was nearly extinct due to DDT. Its recovery is an inspiration for tackling today’s environmental challenges.

Alcatraz is a busy place: every day, up to 5,000 people visit the island, mostly to see the prison. Incredibly, Alcatraz is also a thriving bird sanctuary. Lidia says, “It’s promising for the future that if we give them enough space, they can thrive in these urban environments.”

THE BIRD WOMAN OF ALCATRAZ is the 5th episode in AWE: Awesome Women Environmentalists, a series of short short documentaries airing on NorCal and PBS. It captures Lidia’s enormous joy as she observes the Peregrine Falcons and the tens of thousands of other birds who come to Alcatraz to breed.

The AWE series is a result of the 20+ year relationship between Northern California Public Media and independent filmmakers Nancy Kelly and Kenji Yamamoto. They also worked together on the acclaimed PBS documentaries REBELS WITH A CAUSE and SMITTEN.

Funded by the California Coastal Commission’s WHALE TAIL® Grants Program.

Additional funding provided by: LEF and the Hart Family Fund of CFSC