Other Peregrine Projects > Canadian Peregrines
ON / Toronto - Apartment Block - 2008-14
carly:
Thank you Tracy for all your insightful posts and for sharing your knowledge. It certainly has been a tough year for our peregrines and for all species of birds - I remember this Spring when we were having a flury of violent storms in Southern Ontario that several other species that were threatened were affected by the adverse weather. The destruction of nests in the Algonquin area was particularly harsh this year.
I know the Etobicoke pair from the Residential Area are still there on the ledge as the residents have been posting pictures and keeping their site updated so hopefully next year things will be better and the residents really seem to have embraced the family so that is a good sign for the future. I'm going to try and see if I can out there on fledge watch next year depending of course on when my pair have their young...I'll be running back and forth no doubt!
Thank you for the encouragement about Pete - I guess his mate thinks he is gone for good because she actually fought off the intruder herself after Pete was injured the first time. Hopefully when he does recover they may be reunited without any further blood being shed. I will keep you posted.
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: carly on December 06, 2008, 09:18 --- There is also news of another adult peregrine found injured and they have him in rehab now. Here is Franks words: "Sad news Pittsburgh Pete from Hamilton/Burlington Liftbridge is in rehab. He was found injured on Nov 9. We are in the process of trying to get information as we only recently found out ...no broken bones on xrays but wing is droopy. He is gaining weight so that is good. GOOD NEWS..we need some.
--- End quote ---
Droopy wings is a very good sign, usually a soft tissue injury that with care and sufficient rehab the bird will do well. Trey had such an injury, probably less serious than Pete's but none the less. So too have a number of our birds and many of them have gone on to be very reproductively successful. Keep your fingers crossed and be patient. If he were here in Manitoba, because all our birds migrate these days (we have only had one bird that didn't migrate) he would be staying in rehab until the spring which would be plenty of time for him to recoup his strength and hone his flying/hunting skills chasing prey items in a flight cage. So yes, very good news!
--- Quote from: carly on December 06, 2008, 09:18 --- Added: Here is more info on Pete, looks like he has lost his territory but thankfully not his life. http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/12/04/pittsburgh-petes-in-rehab/
--- End quote ---
If Pete is re-released, I would suggest keeping an eye on him. Not because he will necessarily be in danger, but because you really can't tell what peregrines will do. If he is re-released in the spring, he will be in better shape than this year's resident male returning from migration. Life is not necessarily easier down south in the winter and migration is tough on a bird. Pete hasn't had to do any of that. It could mean the difference between winning back is mate and his territory if he wants it. In Brandon in 2006, the resident pair were Holly and Zeus. They had been paired together for a few years and Zeus is an old toughie. In 2007, Zeus was missing and Holly was paired with Screech, another old bird from our project but not one we had had any news of since his hatching ten years earlier. No sign of Zeus, dead or alive. In 2008, Screech was out (without bloodshed) and Zeus and Holly were back together and successfully raised three chicks. Trey from the Radisson also took a sabatical year a few years ago with his previous female, then he returned and paired up with Princess. So losing or leaving one's territory for a year isn't a sure sign that he has lost his territory. Depends on how bad he is driven to reclaim it. Maybe yes, maybe no. May be even that he and the female will abandon the site to the new male. All in all, if Pete is re-released, you all may have some great viewing next year!
Keep us updated on Pete's progress !!
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: carly on December 06, 2008, 09:18 --- I agree with the comments about how fast people want them removed from the endangered list as only 1 or 2 out of 10 survive to reach adulthood - I just don't get how they can do this.
--- End quote ---
In the US, peregrines were de-listed a few years ago - that is they went from endangered to not endangered in one fell swoop. Canada protested saying that yes the numbers were up but that we needed to make sure the population could maintain its number without the intense support they had been receiving. The USA disagreed and de-listed the birds. Canada downlisted them one degree, from endangered to threatened so that we could be sure. Wildlife is a provincial responsibility and the national recovery plan breaks down the country into different regions of similar habitat and populations. Ontario has alot of wild, cliff-nesting birds in the west and north-west (Thunder Bay area) so that could well be pushing up the numbers for the province. Provincially, each wildlife agency decides how a species is classified. In Manitoba, the peregrine is endangered but we only have two breeding pairs and because we are part of the prairie region and this year is the first year Saskatchewan has had a breeding pair (a female of ours there too) in many years. And while Alberta is also part of the prairie region and they do have more peregrines than we have ever had, they are pretty concentrated geographically. In Ontario, peregrines are classified as threatened, which isn't off the list yet. I do notice that on the Ontario SAR site (http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php?doc_type=fact&id=108&lang=en) it has them classified as "special concern" nationally which isn't exactly correct or incorrect. The anatum subspecies, the one that lives in southern Canada and the continental USA is threatened nationally. Tundrius and pealei subspecies are of "special concern" in large part because they traditionally live outside the agricultural zone of North America (tundrius north of the tree line & very migratory, pealei on the BC/Washington State coastline & only locally migratory) they weren't as impacted by the use of DDT & DDE family of pesticides. There is a classification on the SARA registry for anatum/tundrius based on the idea that its difficult to distinguish between these two birds without dna testing and that these subspecies interbreed. However, a peregrine living along the Canada/US border is unlikely to be paired with a tundrius nesting above the treeline. Its a case of opportunity in my opinion. Birds nesting in Northern BC, Alberta or Quebec, it could certainly happen as the geography is accommodating, other provinces, I'm still not convinced. Could it happen anywhere, sure. Does it happen? Not to any great extent as far as I know from the literature. What isn't discussed is that many of the birds from the US are a mix of subspecies, whatever was available for the breeding program 30 years ago was used. We here in Manitoba have alot of mixing as most of our females are from the States. Not sure what that says about our birds, but I do know that they look, behave and migrate like anatums, so anatums is how they are viewed by our Project. As you can see, lots of things to consider when classifying their status but be assured that no one wants to jump too quickly to take them off the list without proof that they can go it alone. (Not that they will ever be alone given how many of us love them!)
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: carly on December 06, 2008, 09:18 ---I was just coming to post this as I received an email from Frank last night with the sad news. That's all 3 of our beautiful boys gone now. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
--- End quote ---
It is very sad news Carly, but if it is any consolation, it appears to have been a less than ideal year this year pretty much everywhere. I know everyone was concerned about being so close to the airport, but I would hazard this opinion, that the airport is not as bad a location as others in an urban environment. I will preface this by saying that I don't know this particular territory, but while there are planes and buildings, the buildings are not as high or as numerous as in most urban environments and peregrines are rarely hit by planes, even when they hang out at airports. The location has a good (if exposed) ledge (based on all the photos here) and there is obviously water nearby which will ensure the food supply is pretty constant and probably quite varied. Collisions with buildings are unfortunately, not uncommon in urban environments and since fledgling peregrines are basically gliders for the first couple of weeks, and take at least another month to become halfway proficient enough to start hunting, the first 2 weeks are nerve-wracking but the first 6-8 weeks are when they are most vulnerable to flight injuries. If they make it to migration their odds of surviving increase, if they can make it back to anywhere the following spring, their mortality rate goes way down. Here's an example, Grand Forks is an urban area, but not nearly as built-up as Etobicoke, not even near the airport. This year, one of our chicks laid two eggs on a water tower but only one hatched. This lone chick did well despite the same kind of nasty weather Winnipeg experienced and he successfully fledged right on time. Unfortunately, on day two or three post-fledging, he collided with an object (a wire I think, will check) and died. Since this year has been bad in lots of places, if the Etobicoke adults do decide to nest there again, next year may very well be an entirely different situation.
carly:
I was just coming to post this as I received an email from Frank last night with the sad news. That's all 3 of our beautiful boys gone now. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
I agree with the comments about how fast people want them removed from the endangered list as only 1 or 2 out of 10 survive to reach adulthood - I just don't get how they can do this.
There is also news of another adult peregrine found injured and they have him in rehab now. Here is Franks words: "Sad news Pittsburgh Pete from Hamilton/Burlington Liftbridge is in rehab. He was found injured on Nov 9. We are in the process of trying to get information as we only recently found out ...no broken bones on xrays but wing is droopy. He is gaining weight so that is good. GOOD NEWS..we need some.
Our mom and dad are still both here in Etobicoke despite the below zero temperatures and snow. Both can be seen daily on the ledge; mom on her web cam and dad in the nest box or vice versa - I guess after 10 years here they are used to the weather :) and the pigeons are plentiful for them to munch on!
Added: Here is more info on Pete, looks like he has lost his territory but thankfully not his life. http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/12/04/pittsburgh-petes-in-rehab/
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