News: Peregrines

[The Peregrine Chick]

Windsor bird watcher wants peregrine falcons to stay on endangered list

Urban peregrine population numbers are much lower than some southern non-urban (Alberta, Ontario) and northern populations and it is overall national population numbers and distributions for anatum and tundrius subspecies that are major considerations in determining if a species remains on the "at-risk" list.  Peregrines (anatum & tundrius) haven't been an endangered species federally for more than a decade, but individual provinces have their own lists.  In Ontario they are "special concern" the least of the at-risk categories.  In Manitoba they are still endangered for the moment.  They haven't been on Saskatchewan's SAR list for years and have been "threatened" in Alberta since 2014 and Alberta is a peregrine powerhouse province both north and south. 

[burdi]

Windsor bird watcher wants peregrine falcons to stay on endangered list

Steve Atkins thinks the species need 3-5 more years to recover

CBC Posted: Dec 07, 2017 2:46 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 07, 2017 3:09 PM ET

A Windsor bird watcher believes the peregrine falcon should not be taken off the endangered species list.

Earlier this week, a federal committee recommended the birds be seen as a self-supporting species for the first time in 40 years, but Steve Atkins, a member of the Canadian Peregrine Falcon Watch, said it's not actually good news for the falcons, which still face a long road to recovery.

"It's not going to do any good whatsoever at all, because they're still on the comeback," he explained.

A pair of falcons currently roost under the Ambassador Bridge and call Windsor home. This year they had four hatchlings, according Atkins, whose volunteer group watches out for baby birds.

He pointed to the high mortality rate and burgeoning black market for the falcons, which can be easily trained when young, as reason to keep them on the list.

This year, one of the four hatchlings was hit by a car. Atkins said falcons fly low to the ground, so they face multiple hazards.

"The bird flew out through a fence and ran into the back of a car and knocked him down on the ground," he explained. "They're not like robins that have to deal with cats, raccoons and rats to survive. They just don't know."

Atkins added resources are still scare for the species — the falcon watch group relies heavily on volunteers who spend whatever time they can watching the small birds.

"I think they need to remain on the endangered species list for another three to fives years," he said. "Bring the population up more to where it is actually sustainable."

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/falcons-stay-endangered-species-list-1.4437773

[burdi]

Peregrine falcon no longer a threatened species after four decades

For the first time in four decades, a bird known for its speed could be removed from the list of threatened species in most of Canada.

The peregrine falcon, which can fly at speeds up to 320 kilometres per hour, was listed as endangered in 1978. At the time, there was only one active nest east of the Rocky Mountains and south of the 60th parallel, and the northern population was also struggling.

Its numbers have increased steadily to 600 birds in southern Canada and 1,500 in northern Canada after a ban on DDT, a toxic pesticide. There has also been a captive breeding program in the southern population that has helped in the bird's recovery.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is now recommending to the federal government that the peregrine be delisted as a threatened species.

Read the entire news story

I noticed that Dr. Gordon Court is listed as a member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).

COSEWIC website

[Alison]

Peregrine juvie survives collision with commercial airliner



This beautiful young peregrine collided with a plane which was taking off from Wisconsin Central Airport. The little juvie was rescued, and a volunteer transported him to the Raptor Education Group Inc. (REGI) for care.

X-rays showed that he has a wing fracture (a fractured ulna), but remarkably he has no other injuries.

He is banded black/blue 73/E, and is from the Weston Power Plant nest in Rothchild, Wisconsin. He was named Morgan by school children.

Morgan is expected to make a full recovery and to be ready for migration in the fall.

 

Photos: Raptor Education Group Inc.

https://www.facebook.com/RaptorEducationGroupInc/posts/10155726337221019

[Alison]

I'm going to have to do a bit of snooping and talking to buddies of mine south of the border to find out if there are any Manitoba birds in the mix - not impossible by any stretch - we are nesting north and south of them.  Will let you know if I hear anything.

As for endangered species lists - it would just be a state protection as they are completely off the federal recovery lists.

Thank you for the reply, TPC! I would be interested to know if you do hear anything. Since South Dakota is pretty much within the corridor the Winnipeg birds like to travel, I thought it was possible that at least one of them might have decided to look around  for a nest site.

And yes, I was referring to state protection, which is still good to have. Some states take it very seriously, some less so.

I don't know the ratio of urban to non-urban sites in the U.S., but it seems that the birds are becoming less and less interested in utilizing, for instance, natural cliff sites.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Two pairs of breeding peregrines found in South Dakota

I wonder if any of these birds were originally from Winnipeg, or are descendants of Winnipeg peregrines.
It seems much too early to consider removing peregrines from the endangered species list in South Dakota.

I'm going to have to do a bit of snooping and talking to buddies of mine south of the border to find out if there are any Manitoba birds in the mix - not impossible by any stretch - we are nesting north and south of them.  Will let you know if I hear anything.

As for endangered species lists - it would just be a state protection as they are completely off the federal recovery lists.  North Dakota and South Dakota aren't that different from southern Manitoba, just not a lot of places to nest here before we started building cities here so the population was never particularly prolific - with buildings and nestboxes we can have birds breeding where they didn't before - good for the species overall but urban nesting peregrines in Canada only make up a small fraction of all the peregrines nesting in our country.  I'm going to assume that it is not dissimilar in the US - they may not have the dense arctic populations we have but they do have more natural nest sites in the east than we do.  Will have to see if I can find out what the ratio is of urban vs non-urban nests south of the border.

[Alison]

Two pairs of breeding peregrines found in South Dakota

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Breeding peregrine falcons have been found in South Dakota for the first time in 50 years.

The Game, Fish and Parks Department confirmed that two pairs of peregrines successfully nested in the Black Hills earlier this year, the Capital Journal reported. A third pair was spotted but didn't appear to have a nest.

American peregrine falcons were removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999 but are still listed as endangered in South Dakota, where there's limited habitat.

The birds were found in part because of the department's effort to establish delisting criteria for all the species on the state's threatened or endangered-species list. The effort led the department to hire retired Wyoming biologist Bob Oakleaf, who specializes in peregrine falcons, to help identify potential nest sites.

The search included an aerial survey of the Black Hills to identify which cliffs peregrines may use, as well as a ground survey to see if any birds were already there.

"We basically sat in lawn chairs and watched," said Casey Heimerl, a wildlife biologist with the department.

The criteria are expected to be finalized over the next few months. They will require a certain number of nesting pairs over a certain number of years. Currently the falcons can only be removed from the list if the department finds five nesting pairs for five consecutive years, but Heimerl said those numbers may change as new data is evaluated.

http://www.aberdeennews.com/wire/ap-state-sd/breeding-peregrine-falcons-found-in-south-dakota/article_6ad1e034-b106-5a08-8a89-220eb4b1b037.html

I wonder if any of these birds were originally from Winnipeg, or are descendants of Winnipeg peregrines.

It seems much too early to consider removing peregrines from the endangered species list in South Dakota.

[dupre501]

Interesting idea!

[The Peregrine Chick]

I've added this here mainly because of the photo ...

Robird drones deployed at Edmonton International Airport to keep birds at bay a first in the world
Gordon Kent / Edmonton Journal / 9 May 2017



The Robird is coming to Edmonton International Airport (EIA), and he has a message for his feathered friends — dead or alive, you’re coming with me.  The airport will start using a falcon-shaped drone this spring that flaps its wings and mimics the flight patterns of a real raptor to scare away birds that pose a danger to aircraft.

“Birds can get habituated, especially if there isn’t any kind of lethal reinforcement, but they’re hard-wired to respond to a predator,” airport wildlife specialist Jul Wojnowski said Tuesday.

“They react to preserve themselves and fly off to seek shelter.”

The device will be operated by Calgary’s Aerium Analytics, which is also providing EIA with drones for surveying and mapping.  It can run for 12 minutes before the battery runs out.

Wojnowski expects to deploy it over the nearby golf course, ponds, disturbed soil and other locations that attract gulls, geese and ducks, keeping it hundreds of metres away from such critical sites as runways and approaches.  It’s the first time such technology has been incorporated into an airport’s regular wildlife management plan, he said.  During the summer, EIA brings in a falconer on weekends with real peregrine falcons and a Harris’s hawk to help keep down a local avian population, which can grow to flocks of thousands moving through the property at migration times.  The electronic version should be easier to guide than the flesh-and-blood Falcon 1.0.

“It will put a chase on … You can control the direction you want to send the birds, if there’s an area you want to steer them clear of, or a flight path.”

The airport also uses pyrotechnic bangers and screamers to shoo away troublesome fowl, sometimes shoots them to reinforce that the noise means danger, and traps and relocates wild prey birds because they can cause problems hunting near the runways, Wojnowski said. The Robird will be deployed during the week for about three months, then EIA staff will assess how well it works.

“My hope is that we will see a reduction in birds using the airfield and the property too. Hopefully, a predator exhibiting hunting behaviour will discourage them.”

gkent@postmedia.com / twitter.com/GKentEJ


source: Edmonton Journal - Robird drones deployed at Edmonton International Airport to keep birds at bay

[carly]

 

[Alison]

An article published March 31 2017 on the shooting of a peregrine. At least this one survived; I hope he/she will make a full recovery.

Salisbury Cathedral Peregrine found shot near Stockbridge



Police are appealing for information after a peregrine falcon was found shot on farmland near Stockbridge.

A peregrine falcon is a Schedule 1 protected bird and killing or injuring it is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The injured bird was found by a member of the public on Saturday 11 March on a farm at King’s Somborne.

The bird was taken to the Hawk Conservancy Trust in Amport, where it underwent treatment for a fractured wing.

The peregrine falcon, originally ringed at Salisbury Cathedral in June 2014 when it was three weeks old, is expected to make a full recovery.
 
“The bird may have either been shot at on purpose, or recklessly, due to its predatory nature on rural estates. The falcon was in fairly good condition when it was located. It was not malnourished and there were no signs of other injuries, which would suggest it had been shot in the local area fairly."

– PC Stephen Rogerson, Wildlife Crime Officer at Hampshire Constabulary

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2017-03-31/rare-peregrine-falcon-found-shot-near-stockbridge/

I think the quote intended to say "fairly recently."

[Alison]

Turkmenistan

This airport, shaped like a falcon, was built in the capital city of Ashgabat last year at a cost of about $2.3 billion.

[Alison]

This plane was seen in Chicago at O'Hare. I like the design.

[Alison]

Did Beatrix start a trend?

[Kinderchick]

Very sorry to hear this news.