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The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: Alison on July 18, 2017, 14:32 ---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.
--- End quote ---
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:
:'( :'( :'(
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