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News: Peregrines
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: Kinderchick on April 10, 2013, 11:27 ---If these chicks are being raised from birth in captivity, then can they only be used for falconry purposes, since they will have been imprinted?
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Yes they will imprint and yes, at this stage they are falconry birds. But being a falconry bird would preclude these birds from one day taking off from their falconer and reverting to a wild life. Whether or not they are successful as a "wild" bird would depend on the bird.
--- Quote from: Kinderchick on April 10, 2013, 11:27 ---Also, the article says that they are a cross between a white Gyr Falcon & a Peregrine Falcon. Is it typical for different species of falcons to cross breed? Or would the mother have been artificially inseminated?
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The article doesn't say but I am assuming they are man-made through AI, most hybrids are these days. Hybridization is relatively new and at first it was an unanticipated accident between a peregrine and a saker owned by a falconer (http://www.pauldfrost.co.uk/hybridf.html). Gyr x Peregrine crosses are popular - big bird and fast. Other popular falcon species to cross are Lanners and Sakers along with the Gyrs and Peregrines. (check out Wikipedia for good information on these species if you want more details)
--- Quote from: Kinderchick on April 10, 2013, 11:27 ---And if so, why would a scientist who's interested in the restoration of the peregrine falcon population support cross breeding? ???
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The article didn't say he was a scientist, rather that he is a biology teacher and a falconer who worked on the recovery project. That a falconer worked on the recovery project isn't usual, remember most of the techniques used to reintroduce birds are modified from falconry techniques. And his interest in hybrid birds is as a falconer not related to his work with the recovery project. This biology students get to see bird development up close (just like on a webcam) and they he presumably will train the chicks and either keep them to hunt with or sell them to another falconer or maybe a birds-of-prey show.
Just in addition: In Europe, hybrid birds can't be released into the wild (http://www.birdlife.org/eu/pdfs/Nature_Directives_material/BHDTF_Position_Hybrid_Falcons-2008_04_23.pdf). Same here in Canada I believe and I assume the same in the USA. Reason being they are reproductively viable, they can breed unlike other hybrids like mules, which could/can pose a problem for the species they are breeding "other" genes into. And though they can't be released, they do escape. We had two male Gyr-Peregrine hybrids escape from a falconer in Saskatchewan the year before last (I think) - one was found dead a couple of months later but don't know about the other one. The one who died was a fledgling just like our birds so his death was not unnatural and had he survived he would have been just like any other wild bird but a little confused genetically.
Kinderchick:
Interesting article. But I have a few questions, TPC... If these chicks are being raised from birth in captivity, then can they only be used for falconry purposes, since they will have been imprinted? Also, the article says that they are a cross between a white Gyr Falcon & a Peregrine Falcon. Is it typical for different species of falcons to cross breed? Or would the mother have been artificially inseminated? And if so, why would a scientist who's interested in the restoration of the peregrine falcon population support cross breeding? ???
RCF:
Stillwater, MN Area High School Science Department Hatches Baby Falcons
Pictures & more article here: http://patch.com/A-34fs
The Peregrine Chick:
Tracking falcons' comeback along the Mississippi
WJAL
http://www.wral.com/tracking-falcons-comeback-along-the-mississippi/12304235/
The Peregrine Chick:
Science Codex - 25 March 2013
The genomes of peregrine and saker falcons throw lights on evolution of a predatory lifestyle
http://www.sciencecodex.com/the_genomes_of_peregrine_and_saker_falcons_throw_lights_on_evolution_of_a_predatory_lifestyle-109160
interesting ...
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