What Are We Doing to Help Peregrines?

The efforts of scientists, falconers, volunteers and government has helped restore the Peregrine Falcon population. They are still not as numerous as they were before 1940, but the future looks brighter for Birds of Prey. These are only some of the ways people are helping the Peregrine falcon recover.

Protection Laws

We are doing many things to help prevent the Peregrine Falcon's extinction. Being declared an endangered species helped to make killing Peregrine falcons against the law. Because they were endangered if someone shot a peregrine they could be fined or even sent to jail. By August, 1999, the Peregrine falcon had recovered enough to be changed from endangered to threatened by the U.S. Federal government. Many states still consider the Peregrine endangered and work to protect them. Federal and State laws still protect the falcon. It is illegal to own Peregrine feathers or eggs without a permit. To read an interview with New York City's Falcon Expert, click here.

Making Habitat

Now Peregrines are getting some of the habitat they lost back. People are making peregrine nesting sites in skyscrapers so peregrines have a place to nest. They also have a lot of animals to hunt because of the pigeon infestation in many big cities, especially New York City.

The Tappan Zee Bridge, just North of New York City is one of the many metropolitan area bridges to host peregrine families.

New York City Peregrines have been nesting on bridges and skyscrapers since 1983, when two captive-bred peregrine pairs nested on the Throgs Neck and Verrazano-Narrows bridges. Soon they started nesting on building ledges. Department of Environmental Protection field scientists put nest boxes of gravel on these ledges to give the falcons a safe place to lay eggs, so they would not roll off.

photo of peregrine falcon flying over his home on the George Washington Bridge by Zoran Georgievski

Other endangered birds are now making New York City a home. To learn how Consolidated Edison, NYC's electrical utility, is protecting endangered monk parakeets, click here.

To read an interview with a New York City bird researcher, click here.

The Banning of DDT

Now Peregrines will not be harmed by DDT in most of the world. When scientists had proven that DDT was a harmful pesticide, the US government decided to ban DDT and so did many other countries because they decided many of the animals affected by it were important. Although DDT has been banned it is still used in parts of the world where falcons migrate to. To learn more about DDT, click here.

photo of a peregrine falcon chick (eyas) before fledging by Scott Wright

Raising Chicks (Captive Breeding)

Cornell university scientists started to hatch eyases to increase the population of peregrines. They found that if the first clutch of eggs were taken out of the nest early in the breeding season, the mother peregrine would lay a second clutch. The scientists put the eggs in an incubator to keep them warm artificially until they hatched. After they hatched, they were spoon fed by scientists every 3-4 hours. a scientist spoon feeds an eyas, photo courtesy of the Peregrine Fund. When the eyases were a few weeks old the scientists put them in closed boxes called hack boxes. They placed the hack box on a building ledge, which resembles the mountain cliffs peregrines like to nest in. They fed them by dropping food down a tube so that they help the eyases to stop trusting humans. This method of hacking was first developed by falconers, people who hunted with trained falcons. To read an interview with a Peregrine Fund Release Project Manager, click here. To visit the Peregrine Fund website and learn more about how falconers and scientists cooperated to save the falcon, click here.

When the eyases are about 4 weeks old, their legs are full grown. Scientists often put an identification band on the eyases legs then, so they can study their movements. When the eyases became fledgelings the scientists open the front of the cage when they think the eyases are ready to fly out, but if they fall there is a rescue team on duty all day. These rescuers are called nest watchers. To read an interview with a nest watcher, click here.

To read an interview with Seattle's Peregrine Breeding Project Coordinator, click here.

Raptor Rehabilitation

When falcons get hurt, societies like the Raptor Trust give them medical treatment. When they are healed, they are rehabilitated, or helped to regain the skills they need to live in the wild again. Then they are released. Some rehabilitators keep food around so the animals can make a gradual transition back to the wild. Peregrines that have been kept as pets also need rehabilitation before they can survive on their own. Wildlife rehabilitators have to be licensed and trained for the animals' protection. To read an interview with a raptor rehabilitator, click here. To see photos of our visit to the Raptor Trust, click here.

Education

Zoos and Wildlife Educators have been an important part of saving wildlife. Teaching people to appreciate animals helps people want to protect them. Injured raptors that cannot be rehabilitated help teach children and sometimes adults about the beauty and importance of these birds. Web sites like this one help too. We are hoping that people who read this will care about the Peregrines and other animals as well. To read an interview with a wildlife educator, click here.

It is especially important when government leaders set a good example. On June 30, 1981, then NYC Mayor Ed Koch declared Peregrine Falcon day. He had a public ceremony at City Hall Park to celebrate.

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