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The Peregrine Chick:
Don't think anyone has posted this story yet ... I thought it an interesting read ...
Object of Intrigue: A Passport for Falcons
Ella Morton / Atlas Obscura / 04 Aug 2015
A blindfolded falcon ready to rack up some sweet frequent flier points.
(Photo: yeowatzup on Flickr/Creative Commons)
If you're boarding a flight to or from the United Arab Emirates and spot a blindfolded falcon hanging out in first class, do not be alarmed. The bird of prey is allowed to travel in the cabin and has been subjected to the same stringent security checks as you have—including passport control.
In the Emirates, falcons get issued their very own forest green passports. The unusual documentation scheme is due to the fact that, in the U.A.E, falcons are highly prized and therefore attractive to smugglers. Falconry, in which the birds of prey are trained to hunt, is a significant part of the region's Bedouin heritage.
Though the U.A.E.'s desert dwellers no longer rely on falcons for food delivery, falconry continues as a sport and source of national pride. An annual falconry festival in Abu Dhabi lures hawks and their trainers from around the world. Falconers from the region travel the Persian Gulf and beyond with their birds to engage in festivals, competitions, and displays. Hence the need for passports and first-class accommodation.
A top falcon can sell for up to $1 million, writes Ali Al Saloom in The National. The high value of well-bred birds has led to an illegal trade—which is why, in 2002, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) moved to crack down on falcon smuggling by introducing a mandatory falcon passport for jetsetting birds of prey.
Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital director Dr. Margit Muller displays the relevant falcon documentation.
(Photo: Eric Elder)
Each passport corresponds to a particular falcon. That falcon must also be fitted with a leg ring inscribed with an identity number that ends up on the passport. This guards against one bird impersonating another. Sadly, the passports do not require photos, but falcons, you'll find, are somewhat hard to tell apart based on their head shots alone. They also travel with tiny, eye-covering leather helmets on their heads in order to stay calm, making face-based identification even more difficult.
CITES stipulates that, when flying with an avian companion, a falconer must present the bird's passport to a border control officer, who, as with human passports, "should validate it with an ink stamp, signature and date to show the history of movement from State to State." Passports are issued by the UAE's Ministry of Environment and Water for a fee of 500 U.A.E. dirhams—around $136 USD—and remain valid for three years.
The passport "certifies the legal origin of the falcons used for falconry and ensures smooth and easy documentation for falcon travels," says Maribel Broso of the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital. After being issued a passport, the birds may fly accompanied by their falconers to eight countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Morocco, and Syria.
In September 2013, Gulf News reported that over 28,000 falcons had been issued with passports since 2002. The UAE's scheme—the first falcon passport in the world—has also influenced other countries in the Gulf. Last year, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia all agreed to issue their own CITES-approved passports for falcon travel.
Fly, my pretty! But get the required documentation first.
(Photo: cloudzilla on Flickr/Creative Commons)
source: http://tinyurl.com/o5tgnzu
Kinderchick:
Interesting... Haven't ever heard of peregrine falcons in Vancouver.
GCG:
While looking for something from the Vancouver Sun, I came across this article. :)
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Peregrine+falcon+named+Vancouver+bird+year/11053469/story.html
Kinderchick:
Like the article implies, the plight of these PF's are "sort of the canary in the coal mine" where climate change is concerned.
Very interesting article... thanks for posting it, gemcity.
GCG:
Arctic rain threatens baby peregrine falcons
Heavier summer rain leading to chick deaths from hypothermia, or even drowning
CBC News / Dec 04, 2013
When it rains, adult falcons crouch above their chicks, wings spread like a canopy, to keep them dry. But warmer temperatures and more frequent heavy rains in the Arctic are, in some cases, forcing adult falcons to give up on their chicks. (Erik Hedlin)
Warmer Arctic temperatures and changing weather patterns are introducing a new problem for peregrine falcons breeding on the west coast of Hudson Bay: rain.
When it rains, adult falcons crouch above their chicks, wings spread like a canopy, to keep them dry. But warmer temperatures and more frequent heavy rains are, in some cases, forcing adults falcons to give up, leaving the chicks exposed in the nest.
The chicks can die from hypothermia, or even drown.
“They’re completely covered in fluffy down,” says Alastair Franke, of the University of Alberta’s Circumpolar Institute. “That down gets wet very quickly.”
A peregrine falcon tries to brood two nestlings who succumbed to exposure. (University of Alberta)
The latest research looked at 30 pairs of falcons near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. It found that after a heavy summer rain, more than a third of the chicks died.
Researchers watched one case where a healthy adult mother saw her well fed chicks succumb to the cold and damp. When attempts to revive them with more food didn’t work, she killed and ate both chicks.
While infanticide is not uncommon in other raptor species, Franke says this is the first time it’s been documented in peregrine falcons.
“In extreme weather conditions where adults are exposed, at some point they give up,” Franke says.
He says this is done likely to save their strength for the next breeding opportunity.
The research found that offering protection to the falcons, in the form of nest boxes, made a difference, but some birds who used the nest boxes still died of starvation. That prompted concerns that heavy rainfall is also affecting creatures lower down the food chain, such as lemmings, ground squirrels and other birds.
Right now, Franke says, it’s not clear what action should be taken. The study was limited to one small population in a species that is, overall, doing very well.
Peregrine falcons were in steep decline in the 1970s because of the heavy use of pesticides such as DDT. Now peregrine falcons can be found around the globe.
However, one N.W.T. bird expert says the plight of the falcons shows action needs to be taken on climate change.
"We are not doing much in response to climate change in terms of mitigating it or stopping the causes of it,” says Bob Bromley, a Yellowknife ornithologist and a member of the Northwest Territories legislature.
"They are sort of a canary in a coal mine," Bromley says.
source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/arctic-rain-threatens-baby-peregrine-falcons-1.2450721
Sorry, TPC, I didn't know where to post this post I saw on the CBC site this morning. Please repost where necessary. Thank you!
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