News: Peregrines

[Kinderchick]

Very interesting! Thanks for your explanations, Jazzerkins & TPC.
And now I know exactly what to do, if a songbird ever hits our living room window.
I actually did not know to put it in a box for an hour, to relieve it's stress.
I thought it was to be left alone, wherever it landed, till it recovered.
Thanks for the advice, TPC!

BTW, very fancy, schmancy hoods, indeed!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Technically they are called hoods and they are custom designed to fit the bird so there is space around their head and eyes - and can be put on and taken off with one hand by the falconer while the bird is sitting on their other hand/arm.  There is a basic design but flourishes have been added over the centuries by falconers ...

Some are very simple, others have more panache ...

 

Some are quite ornate ... these ones have gemstones ... diamonds I believe ...




Covering an animal's eyes tends to reduce their stress and keep them calmer.  Like when you have a songbird that hits your window - you put it in a box with the lid on (no food or water) and put it in a quiet dark room for an hour.  Then take it back outside and the songbird will a) fly away (brain has rebooted and no lasting injuries), b) they will not fly away usually a sign of an more serious injury but one they could recovery from with some veterinary care so take to local wildlife rehab organization or c) injury was fatal and bird has died but died in a less stressful environment.

[Jazzerkins]

From what I have read, Kinderchick, the falcons are blindfolded when being transported, to keep them calm.  The blindfold is removed when they are "home" or are ready to be released to hunt. 

[Kinderchick]

Interesting... but I have a question - why are falcons used for falconry blindfolded?

[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!

[allikat]

On the next episode of The Nature of Things on CBC is "Songbird SOS" The vanishing of the music from songbirds is increasing.  

Yes, unfortunately the small song birds are in fact disappearing - they get caught during migration and fly toward large buildings with their lights still on, when no one is home.  
It's been an ongoing major problem in large cities between their migratory paths. They just fly toward the light and get caught.  The birds will literally try to fly up against the windows, getting mesmerized by the light, eventually tiring them out, then die of stress and exhaustion.  Bird specialists as well as enthusiasts have complained about buildings keeping their lights on, but, obviously, nothing has been done about it, which is so very sad.
There are other contributing factors as well, but this one is a major one.

[irenekl]

On the next episode of The Nature of Things on CBC is "Songbird SOS" The vanishing of the music from songbirds is increasing. 

Thursday, March 19th at 8:00pm (ch. 209 on Shaw)


(if this is in the wrong thread I apologize.  Please move if necessary)

[RCF]

 
   
Toronto Sheraton juvenile - (named Trout) - Solid Black band W over 79 with Yellow Tape has been sighted in Florida USA on December 12th - 2014

More info and photos at this link

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2015/01/sightings/13556/

[dupre501]

Cool! Glad to hear about Canadian birds.

[RCF]

Banded Canadian peregrine falcon spotted in San Diego

Tracking a Wandering Peregrine Falcon from Mission Bay

http://obrag.org/?p=90352

[The Peregrine Chick]

Pere­grine Fal­con found on City Bal­cony
Anna Mar­grét Björns­son /MBL / 13 Oct 2014

A fam­ily in west-cen­tral Reyk­javík found a sur­prise vis­i­tor on their bal­cony on Thurs­day. Their guest was of the winged kind, a pere­grine fal­con who stayed on the bal­cony for the whole night. "He was hud­dled up on the bal­cony and we thought he would fly away but he was still there in the morn­ing, poor thing," said fa­ther Trausti Þorgeirs­son.

In an in­ter­view with mbl.is news, Þorgeirs­son said that it seemed that the fal­con had been knocked out ei­ther by fly­ing into the win­dow or onto the bal­cony rail­ing. "It looked like he was try­ing to fly away but could­n't take off." The bird hud­dled in­stead by the bal­cony door and stayed there un­til the fol­low­ing day, when Þorgeirs­son called the po­lice.

 
Peregrine falcon on a balcony in west central Reykjavik. Photo/​Trausti Þorgeirs­son

Nei­ther he or the po­lice of­fi­cers who ar­rived dared to go out on the bal­cony to cap­ture the fal­con. "The po­lice force has no train­ing in how to cap­ture a fal­con on a bal­cony.

In­stead, they got an ex­pe­ri­enced fal­con han­dler from closeby Melaskóli el­e­men­tary school who ar­rived armed with a spe­cialised glove," said Þorgeirs­son. "But when the guy tried to get close to the bird, he flew up on the bal­cony railng and then flew off into the world, prob­a­bly with an in­jured leg."

Þorgeirs­son added that the spar­rows in the area had re­acted strongly to the fal­con's pres­ence when he flew away, fly­ing to­wards him and fol­low­ing him some dis­tance.

Last month two pere­grine fal­cons were spot­ted in the south penin­sula, one of them a young bird and the other one older. Ac­cord­ing to or­nithol­o­gist Jóhann Óli Hilmars­son it is quite pos­si­ble that the bal­cony fal­con was the younger bird. The pere­grine fal­con is some­what smaller than the Ice­landic fal­con. The species nests in all con­ti­nents ex­cept for the Antarc­tic and is a rare sight in Ice­land.

Source:  http://www.mbl.is/english/news/2014/10/13/peregrine_falcon_found_on_city_balcony/