Birds Threatened By Proposed Rollback Of Endangered Species Act Protections

Imagine a world where there were no bald eagles or peregrine falcons. By the late 1960's, rampant use of the pesticide DDT, habitat loss, and persecution made extinction seem very likely. The Endangered Species Act (ESA), signed into law by President Nixon in 1973, was an important part of bald eagle and peregrine falcon recovery. It:

• Levied serious legal penalties for killing threatened and endangered species;
• Mandated the preservation of habitat critical to a listed species' survival, and;
• Decreed that federal agencies prevent their actions from jeopardizing the existence of threatened and endangered species. 

Despite overwhelming public support for the Act, the U.S. Department of the Interior is currently proposing to roll back endangered and threatened species protections in three critical areas. Their changes will:

• Roll back habitat protection for endangered and threatened species; 
• Reduce protections for and allow take of threatened species, and;
• Weaken the role that biological assessment and science play in listing decisions.

Federal rule changes require a period of public input, which in this case ends on September 24th. If any of you would like to comment, we've put together a breakdown of the proposed changes, what each change actually means when stripped of its bureaucratic language, and links to comment. The changes break down like this...

Critical Area I: Rolling back habitat protection for endangered and threatened species
Revision of the Regulations for Listing Species and Designating Critical Habitat. This proposed rule change will make it harder to designate critical habitat: the land and waters that endangered and threatened species need to survive. It will also make it easier to eliminate existing critical habitat, opening previously protected land to commercial and recreational use.

• What it says: "We propose to revise section 424.12(a)(1) to set forth a non-exhaustive list of circumstances in which the Services may find it is not prudent to designate critical habitat as contemplated in section 4(a)(3)(A) of the Act. Under the clarifications that we propose in this revision, the Services would have the authority but would not be required to find that designation would not be prudent in the enumerated circumstances."
• What it means: 4(a)(3)(A) requires the Service to designate critical habitat when it makes an endangered or threatened listing; i.e., when a species is listed, its habitat must also be listed. The proposed rule change would allow the Service to exempt habitat from the listing.
• Why it's important: For endangered species, critical habitat is the key to survival. A study by the Center for Biological Diversity found that plants and animals with federally protected habitat are more than twice as likely to be moving toward recovery than species without it. Migratory species like birds are especially vulnerable to habitat destruction because they tend to inhabit more than one natural habitat. This seemingly innocuous proposal eliminates one of the most important tools we have to protect and rebuild species in danger of going extinct. If species don't have a place to live, migrate, feed, and breed, listing means little to nothing.

What you can do: Comment on this change by pressing the blue "Comment now" button at the upper right side of this page: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0006-0001.

The devil in the details: The federal government seeks feedback on whether it should consider modifying the definitions of “geographical area occupied by the species” or “physical or biological features” in Section 424.02. The geographical area is currently defined as an area that may generally be delineated around species' occurrences. This may include those areas used throughout all or part of the species' life cycle, even if not used on a regular basis (e.g., migratory corridors, seasonal habitats, and habitats used periodically, but not solely by vagrant individuals). The physical or biological features are the features that support the life-history needs of the species, including but not limited to, water characteristics, soil type, geological features, sites, prey, vegetation, symbiotic species, or other features - including critical ephemeral locations like migratory feeding, wintering, or summering grounds. Changing these definitions could have a significant negative impact on habitat conservation.

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Critical Area II: Rolling back legal protection for threatened wildlife and plants
Revision of the Regulations for Prohibitions to Threatened Wildlife and Plants. This proposed rule change will reduce legal protection for wildlife and plants listed as threatened.

• What it says: "We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, propose to revise our regulations extending most of the prohibitions for activities involving endangered species to threatened species. For species already listed as a threatened species, the proposed regulations would not alter the applicable prohibitions. The proposed regulations would require the Service, pursuant to section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act, to determine what, if any, protective regulations are appropriate for species that the Service in the future determines to be threatened."
• What it means: "Take protection" was extended to threatened species in 1978. Like endangered species, threatened species can't be harassed, harmed, pursued, hunted, shot, wounded, killed, trapped, captured, or collected. It provides safeguards to species that are in need of support, but allows some activities to be exempted if the Service finds it appropriate. The proposed rule change would remove these protections for species listed as threatened.
• Why it's important: Section 4(d) provides legal protection and resources to threatened or dwindling species while rewarding collaborative conservation efforts to keep species like the Gunnison Sage Grouse off the endangered species list. Rolling back these protections will allow threatened wildlife and plants to be subject to "take". It will also remove incentives for collaboration, making it more difficult and costly to reverse population declines. The Section 4(d) rule was designed to create fewer endangered species by providing incentives to protect and rebuild threatened species. Rolling it back will cause population declines among wildlife and plants already struggling to hold on, creating more endangered species.

What you can do:  Comment on this change by pressing the blue "Comment now" button at the upper right side of this page: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001

The devil in the details: The federal government seeks specific feedback about replacing blanket 4(d) protections with special rules for each species listed as threatened. It also seeks feedback regarding a timeframe for finalizing any rules, after which the rule would be dropped and the process restarted before any decision could be made. Replacing blanket protections with special protections and drop rules will significantly reduce protections for threatened species, especially given the dwindling resources allocated to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Critical Area III: Weakening the role that biological assessment and science play in listing decisions
Revision of Regulations for Interagency Cooperation. This proposed rule change will weaken the role that biological evidence and science play in listing decisions.

• What it says: "We, FWS and NMFS (collectively referred to as the “Services” or “we”), propose to amend portions of our regulations that implement section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The Services are proposing these changes to improve and clarify the interagency consultation processes and make them more efficient and consistent."
• What it means: The Endangered Species Act currently directs all Federal agencies to work to conserve endangered and threatened species and to use their authorities to further the purposes of the Act. The proposed changes to Section 7 weaken the requirement that Federal agencies consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when any action an agency carries out, funds, or authorizes may affect a listed endangered or threatened species.
• Why it's important: When a Federal agency determines that its action is likely to adversely affect a listed species, the agency submits a request for formal consultation to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Formal consultation includes sharing information about the project and species likely to be affected by the action. Once formal consultation is done, the Service prepares a biological opinion on whether the proposed activity will jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species. The Section 7 Rule mandates consultation and produces listing decisions based on the best available biological science. Rolling it back will reduce the role that science-based evidence plays in making listing decisions and minimize the role of the US Fish and Wildlife Service in conserving America's wildlife and plants for the public good.

What you can do:  Comment on this change by pressing the blue "Comment now" button at the upper right side of this page: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0009-0001.

The devil in the details: Note that the federal government is seeking comment on the extent to which the changes outlined in this proposed rule will affect timeframes and resources needed to conduct consultation and (2) anticipated cost savings resulting from the changes. They are also seeking comment on the merit, authority, and means for the Services to conduct a single consultation, resulting in a single biological opinion, for Federal agency actions affecting species that are under the jurisdiction of both FWS and NMFS. FWS has a higher standard.

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According to the proposed rule changes, the federal government seeks only to make things more efficient and streamlined. Their concentration on technical definitions, bureaucratic language, and efficient timeframes conceals their true intent - to drastically roll back protections for endangered and threatened animals and plants and the habitat they live, feed, breed in, and move through. If I didn't find it all so appalling, I might be awed by the sheer nefariousness of this death by a thousand cuts. Follow the comment links earlier in this blog to speak up for America's wildlife and wildlands.

Opponents of the Endangered Species Act sometimes argue that the law hasn't been successful, but according to a 2016 report published by The American Bird Conservancy, seventy-eight percent of mainland birds listed as Threatened or Endangered under the ESA have populations that are now stable, increasing, or have recovered enough to be delisted. That sounds an awful lot like success to me.

Why do I care? I had the privilege of visiting Chicago's Field Museum during a peregrine conference five years ago. Attendees were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum, including a look at their vast bird collection - lovingly preserved corpses of birds kept for study and remembrance. It was there that I got my only look at the Carolina parakeet and the Ivory-billed woodpecker. Gone forever from life, the two species now exist only as study skins in museums. Had the United States not banned DDT and passed the Endangered Species Act, it is highly likely that peregrine falcons, bald eagles, and many other animals would have joined them, existing only as rumors, museum specimens and curiosities on film. However cherished their memories or lovingly preserved their corpses, they too would be gone, dead, extinct, lost. Forever. I care because I've come to love them, and because I also believe that their survival is our own. This land is our land. We need to care for it and respect it. 

More on Great Spirit Bluff

We are getting a lot of questions about the perch design at Great Spirit Bluff. Are falcons jumping because the perches are poorly designed? No - they are jumping because of an unusually early and intense (what we call explosive) - emergence of adult black flies.

Why are we so sure? The sites at which we have platforms (Xcel Energy's Allen S. King and Sherco plants, for example) don't have better production records than the sites at which we don't (every cliff site, sill-mounted sites at power plants, and stackhouse sites, to name a few).  Great Spirit Bluff didn't begin having problems until our first black fly hatch in 2013. As you can see below, the only exception was 2008, and I suspect we had a new female (probably Michelle's first year) because the nest chronology really went very late, shifted early the next year, and stayed early. We installed the nest box here in 2003, falcons adopted it in 2005, and we put it online in 2011. Here is what the record looks like. You can check it for yourself at http://www.raptorresource.org/about-us/annual-reports-and-papers/

• 2005 - 4 falcons produced
• 2006 - 3 falcons produced
• 2007 - 3 falcons produced
• 2008 - 1 falcon produced
• 2009 - 4 falcons produced
• 2010 - 4 falcons produced 
• 2011 - 4 falcons produced
• 2012 - 3 falcons produced
• In 2013, we banded four young. All of them stampeded from the nest following a blackfly swarm. We recovered one from the ground below the cliff and transplanted him to a nestbox with two young of the same age. He survived and fledged just fine. Two other falcons must have survived and been fed by the parents, because they showed up at the nestbox one day, all feathered out and looking great. One probably died - we never saw it again and it hasn't turned up anywhere else yet.
• In 2014, only one egg hatched. Watchers might remember that as a really brutal spring. We banded the lone male, but he stampeded from the nest box at about 30 days of age following a black fly swarm. We found him below the bluff with our cameras and monitored him as his parents cared for him. He fledged just fine. 
• 2015 - 4 falcons produced
• 2016 - 4 falcons produced
• In 2017, two young falcons died following a black fly swarm. We recovered both carcasses, did a field examination on one (referencing 'Managing Peregrine falcon at the Eyrie' by Cade), and took the other into the U of MN for an autopsy. We are still waiting for the results from U MN. The one we examined had multiple bites along the edges of both wings, its wingpits,  the skin around its eyes, and its cere, It had a couple of bites (but not many) in its thighpits. There were no bites or sign of insects in its mouth, its nares, or its nasal passages. I did a field examination on the two survivors when we banded Sunday, and neither one of them were nearly as badly.

A couple of comments on 2017 - the swarm was earlier than we have ever seen it and we have never at ANY of our cammed sites seen young falcons venturing outside at roughly 17 days of age. Not on platforms. Not on bars. Not ever, not anywhere.

We are researching ways to design a box that will minimize black fly swarming and offer a slightly larger platform, but if this is a problem with the falcons we watch, it is also a problem for countless birds we can't see. It is time to start thinking about ways that climate change is impacting the birds we watch and love and the birds we love but can't see. If we don't recognize the problem or confine the problem only to what we can see, we can't make a difference.

So why do we think the falcons died? We are still waiting for autopsy results, but black flies are a vector for blood parasites that kill young birds with undeveloped immune systems. A link: http://www.arcticraptors.ca/pdf_docs/Arctic69-3-281.pdf. Whether or not you understand that climate change is linked to anthropomorphic activity, use your favorite search tool to learn about climate change, black flies, and mosquitoes, just to name a few. 

Black flies and falcon deaths at GSB

As watchers of Great Spirit Bluff know, we lost two falcons to black flies/buffalo gnats. The young falcons died from blood loss and a blood pathogen carried by black flies. The immune systems of adults can handle the pathogen, but young birds often can't. Although none of us believe that the flies came from within the box, we'll take a sample of gravel for examination as well.

We've had black fly problems here in the past. In 2013 and 2014, young falcons were stampeded from the box in mid-June, when they were roughly 30 days of age. But that we know, we've never had a serious problem this early. Why are black flies swarming the box now? It is a more complicated answer than you might think.

Which black fly is this? There are 30 species of black flies in Minnesota, but not all of them are good candidates for this location. For example, it probably isn't Simulium johannseni (develops primarily in the Crow River) or Simulium meridionale (develops primarily in the Minnesota and Crow rivers), but ruling out those two still leaves 28 possibilities. Although black flies as a whole are grouped into one family (Simuliidae), black fly species have very different life styles.  It would be helpful to know which species we are dealing with.

What does its life cycle look like? From Purdue: "The length of time it takes an egg to hatch varies greatly from species to species. Eggs of most species hatch in 4-30 days, but those of certain species may not hatch for a period of several months or longer.  The number of larval stages ranges from 4-9, with 7 being the usual number.  The duration of larval development ranges from 1-6 months, depending in part on water temperature and food supply. The life cycle stage that passes though winter is the last stage larva attached underwater to rocks, driftwood, and concrete surfaces such as dams and sides of man-made channels."  In short, the eggs for the 2017 hatch were most likely laid in 2016. The larvae emerged somewhere between one month ago or six months ago. When I compared average April temperature and precipitation for the area for every year between 2013 and 2017, I found that April 2017 was the warmest, if not by much.

	Average Temp (F)	Average Precip (inches)
April 2017	53	4.87
April 2016	50	1.08
April 2015	51	4.16
April 2014	45	7.03
April 2013	43	6.11

The complicated structure of black fly life means that we also need to look at the conditions last fall and winter, which were unusually warm and dry. Did more eggs and larva stay local given the lower river current? Did more larva survive given the unusually mild conditions? Did the slightly warmer April weather lead to an earlier season? Did sun and warm temperatures following days of cold and rain lead to an explosive hatch? John noted that the swarm seemed to blow up and fade very quickly. This video shows 'those dreaded flies': https://youtu.be/Rua_nnLF6TE

Can we control them?
We are looking into it, but we don't have an easy answer yet. We need something that doesn't volatilize since we can't descend to the box every day to spray it. It has to be strong enough to kill flies but not strong enough to harm hatchling and nestling falcons. It can't destroy the integrity of the box or let too much precipitation or wind in through the side. We are contacting the University of Minnesota's insect extension team to pick their brains and have also emailed Dr. Laura Johnson about safe possibilities. John and Susan had an intriguing idea about soaking mesh scrubbies in some known organic repellents and securing them in a safe location inside the nest box, so we may try that as well.

I wish we had more answers for everyone now. We'll do what we can and post more information when we have it.

A Peregrine falcon at the Decorah North Nest!

Peregrine falcon, Decorah North Nest

A sharp-eyed camera operator spotted an unbanded adult peregrine falcon at the Decorah North Nest this morning: https://youtu.be/HyVFISzaqOQ. What a surprise, especially given that there are no cliffs or large rock faces in the immediate area! As we've seen, the North nest is on a flyway of sorts. While almost all of the falcons we watch are on eggs right now, this could be a 'floater' - an unpaired adult falcon with no home territory. If we start seeing or hearing it on a regular basis, we'll need to figure out what it is doing in the area.

Although it isn't common, tree nesting has been documented in peregrine falcons in the United States as recently as 2013. The authors of the short communication Tree-Nesting by Peregrine Falcons in North America: Historical and Additional Records reviewed literature and found 33 North American records of peregrine falcons nesting in trees or snags in Alaska, Kansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Louisiana, Virginia, and British Columbia. However, their field research indicates that tree nesting could be more common than the literature suggests.

Of the 33 tree nests recorded between 1867 and 2007, nine were in tree cavities, nine were in the nests of other raptors (most commonly bald eagles), four were in bole 'platforms' created by a large tree breaking or snapping, and ten were unspecified. Of the nine nests found by the researchers between 1998 and 2013 in California and Washington state, six were in bole platforms, one was in a very large snag, and two were in bald eagle nests.

Peregrine falcons tend to imprint on nest sites, so would they be likely to cross over to trees on their own? The re-establishment of tree nesting peregrines in Europe didn't occur until fledgling peregrine falcons were tree-hacked in a process very similar to Bob's cliff release program. But peregrine falcons have taken over osprey nests with no assistance or direction in New York and New Jersey, and the breeding sites reported by Buchanan, Hamm, Salzer, Diller, and Chinnici are the first documented tree nests used by Peregrine Falcons in Washington and California, the first use of redwoods, Douglas-firs, and grand firs ever recorded, and the first reported snag use by peregrines in North America in over 60 years. As the authors state, Additional records of tree-nesting might
be expected if Peregrine Falcon populations continue to increase beyond levels already thought to have exceeded historical abundance (Ratcliffe 1993, Hayes and Buchanan 2002). Given the platform and tree nests in New York, New Jersey, California, and Washington state, it seems that peregrines can change their nesting behavior, although we don't know how likely they are to do so.

One appearance near a bald eagle nest does not make a tree-nesting peregrine population make, but a peregrine in an unexpected place is always exciting to see and we'll keep everybody posted!

Links

• Tree-Nesting by Peregrine Falcons in North America: Historical and Additional Records: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3356/JRR-13-25.1
• World's fastest animal takes New York (comment on peregrine takeover of the Jamaican Bay osprey nest): http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-worlds-fastest-animal-takes-new-york-12317871/
• New Jersey peregrine falcon report (comment on Meadowlands nest): http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/pefa14_report.pdf

A quick end note: as many of you know, Bob identified the 'bird mounds' at Effigy Mounds (and other places) as peregrine falcons in part because they were shaped like peregrine falcons and in part because they were often located near historical peregrine eyries. His research on that can be read here: https://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2015/08/falcon-effigies-of-upper-mississippi.html. When Bob was asked about falcon mounds in places with no cliffs or falcons, such as the Five Hawks effigy mounds once located near Prior Lake, Minnesota, he replied that there had probably been tree-nesting peregrine falcons in the area when the mound builders were active. While we can't know for sure, it is wonderful to think that there may have been tree nesting peregrines in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin a very long time ago. 

Why a functioning EPA is important for birds

The EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, is a US government agency established in 1972 to protect human health and the environment. By the early 1970's, Americans were increasingly aware of the dangers posed by pollution, the indiscriminate dumping of sewage and industrial chemicals, and the widespread and unregulated use of pesticides, herbicides, and toxic agents. Peregrine falcons, bald eagles, and other birds were critically endangered and at risk of extinction, the Cuyahoga river had famously caught fire several times, Great Lake Erie had been declared dead, and smog regularly blanketed America's largest cities. People were organizing at local, state, and national levels to get ordinances and laws passed to reduce pollution and penalize polluters. In some cases, people were driven by concerns about the future, but in many others - like Los Angeles - they were concerned with immediately improving health and saving lives.

Prior to the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the EPA, there were no legal or regulatory federal mechanisms to protect the environment. While communities could address local problems, water and air don't have a fixed address. A regulatory mechanism was needed that would allow enforcement across county and state lines, address pollution on land and waterways owned by the federal government, and provide funds for cleaning up large, extremely toxic messes like this one, which is still affecting the Channel Islands. Following the introduction and passage of several bills related to environmental concerns, President Nixon proposed a new agency on July 9, 1970, to consolidate the environmental responsibilities of the federal government. Congress approved the proposal and President Nixon signed an executive order establishing the EPA on December 2, 1970.

Why does this matter to human health and wildlife?  Take a look at the EPA A-Z index: https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/z-index. The EPA is able to regulate and enforce environmental and human health laws as related to air (the Clean Air Act and Amendments), water (the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Water Quality Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Amendments), land (the Wilderness Acts, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act), endangered species (the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Endangered Species Preservation Act), Hazardous Waste (the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Resource Recovery Act, and the Hazardous and Solid Wastes Amendments Act) and human health (the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Nuclear Waste Repository Act, and the Food Quality Protection Act). In short, the EPA played a very important role in the cleaner air, the cleaner water, and the formerly endangered species we so enjoy today.

Perhaps most important to bald eagles, peregrine falcons, brown pelicans, and many other birds, the EPA banned DDT in the United States in 1972 based on its adverse environmental effects. But that isn't the only banned chemical that affects birds. Remember DN2's death last year? He was poisoned by methomyl, a member of the carbomate chemical family. Carbofuran, a related chemical, killed millions of birds each year before the EPA canceled it for use on crops in 2009. In 1990, diazinon was classified as a restricted ingredient and banned for use on golf courses and turf farms, marking the first time regulatory action was taken specifically on behalf of birds. It was banned entirely on January 1st of 2005. Chlordane was banned for home, garden and agricultural uses in 1983. It is persistent in the environment and still poisons birds today, but not at the levels it once did. Monocrotophos was removed from use in the United States in 1991, although it was linked to huge die-offs of Swainson's Hawks on their wintering grounds in Argentina. You can read more about the American Bird Conservancy's successful intervention here.

So in short, a working EPA is important for birds because its actions have directly benefited many birds including eagles and peregrine falcons, and its enforcement of environmental laws has resulted in cleaner air, cleaner water, and better health. Concerned only with the economy? The estimated economic benefit for banning lead ranges from $110 billion to $319 billion for each year's newborns. The yearly economic benefit of that alone is far bigger than the EPA's annual budget.

So what can we do? In the short term, you have until May 15, 2017 to comment on Executive Order 13777, issued on 2/24/17, which directs agencies to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force to make recommendations about potential repeal, replacement, or modification of EPA regulations. We know it sounds boring and unimportant. We know that a lot of people who follow the eagles have busy lives. We know that our fans come from all over the political spectrum. But conservation isn't red or blue, it is important to birds and humans, and we are asking people to take the time to read through the materials and comment.

Why?  We asked you to comment on the 30-year take of bald eagles, and you did. Did the 30-year take pass? Yes. But while it would have been good to see it voided, your comments resulted in a better ruling overall, with more safeguards put into place and outside auditing of companies that choose to participate in the 30-year take program. Without your comments, it would have been a lot worse.

If you would like to read more about the EPA and birds before commenting, follow these links:

• American Bird Conservancy: Birds need the EPA to oversee pesticides and so do we: https://abcbirds.org/birds-need-environmental-protection-agency/
• The EPA's migratory bird initiatives: https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/migratory-bird-initiatives
• A-Z EPA Topics: https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/z-index

In the long term, you can educate yourself and others about the substances most toxic to birds. You can support organizations that advocate and do research on behalf of birds. Of course I like it when people support the Raptor Resource Project, but you should also take a look at the American Bird Conservancy and the work they do. You can get involved in local projects: remember, our national concern for the environment grew in part out of local issues, whether it was choking smog, the loss of soil, the contamination of water, or the need for local parks and wild land. We can all keep reminding our congressional representatives and senators that conservation and the environment are important to us. And we should all take strength, determination, and resolve from our polluted past: strength, since we have made significant improvements; determination, so we can keep moving forward; and resolve that we won't go back to those days again.

Things that helped me learn and write about this topic:

• When it comes to pesticides, birds are sitting ducks: This article is from 1998, so some of the information is dated. But it is still an extremely good and very readable article about pesticide hazards to birds.
• What types of pesticides kill birds? From the Journal of Pesticide Reform. Note that the sources on Diazinon come from unpublished sources - something not permissible under the so-called HONEST act passed in the House this week. You can still contact your senator to let them know what you think of it! 
• This article on chlorpyrifos.
• This is fascinating! For the Documerica Project (1971-1977), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hired freelance photographers to capture images relating to environmental problems, EPA activities, and everyday life in the 1970s. Looking through them brought back memories! https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/collections/72157620729903309/
• Remember acid rain? https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects-acid-rain
• Remember Love Canal? https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/love-canal-tragedy.html
• The American Bird Conservancy has great information on pesticides and birds.
• I can't mention non-toxic ammo without linking to SOAR! (I did mention the EPA's role in banning lead in paint, gasoline, and toys - right?)
• The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Society is a great place to start learning about public land and related topics.
• You might be surprised at what Pheasants Forever has done for habitat. Or what Trout Unlimited has done for water. Or what Ducks Unlimited has done for wetlands.

Keep in mind - we've come a long way, baby!

Message from the Director

It has been a busy start to the year, but it has been productive and very enjoyable.  A warm welcome to our teachers and classrooms that are following along!  We have been working hard to get raptor cams ready for nesting season, training volunteers to operate them, and telling the interesting stories as we watch nature unfold and enter a new cycle of life.  If you are an educator and would like a classroom account, please visit http://www.raptorresource.org/classroom/

Two stories come to mind….the first one as each day starts is how to best share the raw beauty that comes with viewing our Decorah Eagles and other raptors as they do what comes naturally.  We are drawn to that connection with the natural world they represent.  Who could imagine that we would recently watch and wonder about the first vivid footage we have seen of Mom North vocalizing while sleeping and dreaming [video: https://youtu.be/voNRDmpde1A]!  I also had to hunt down the video footage captured by our videographers when I heard about the confrontation between the first female peregrine falcon to arrive at Great Spirit Bluff with our resident female Michelle as she returned a week later to claim her nest and mate. It was not too rough, but I can honestly say I was rooting for Michelle and had to laugh as some of you joked about Newman having some explaining to do! [video: https://youtu.be/zFAFwuuWBt0]

The second story is what a difference we can make by leading as an example and using our energy and talents to advocate for the raptors and nature around us.  Most of us have been touched by the example set by Bob Anderson and his RRP partners in raptor conservation and research.  It has been a time of reflection to watch the recent Iowa Public Television movie (The Eagles of Decorah) about the discovery of the Decorah Eagles and subsequent production of the movie “American Eagle”.  It is that passion that has brought us all together to carry on.

Our second annual fundraiser at the Celtic Junction in St. Paul was an event to remember and served as a kick-start to the year.  It was a donation of time and musical talent, one of the many you share, showcasing contributions that help us fulfill our mission.  This year we are focusing some of those efforts on kestrels, osprey, and telling stories of the unique Driftless Area.  I can’t wait to share our first newsletter with you all soon!  We now prepare to monitor peregrine falcons as they return to their historic bluff eyries.

There are exciting times ahead watching and experiencing Nature’s reality TV and sharing our love for the raptors who are only part of the bigger picture.  Spring is just around the corner and we have some exciting projects to share that are in process….stay tuned and need I remind us all to get outside and capture the outdoor experience! It won't be long until eggs start hatching!

John Howe
Director, Raptor Resource Project

Endangered Species Act and Environmental Laws in Front of Committees This Week

There are at least two important hearings on Capital Hill this week for those who love wildlife and wildlands.

At 10am eastern time on Wednesday February 15, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing entitled “Oversight: Modernization of the Endangered Species Act.” Information about the panel can be found here: https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/2/oversight-modernization-of-the-endangered-species-act. We are watching this issue closely. Although bald eagles and peregrine falcons are no longer endangered, they were nearly extinct by the time the ESA was passed and benefited greatly from its protections. We welcome changes that strengthen the Act, especially given the overwhelming evidence for its success, but at least some of the suggested changes seem to be less about improvement and more about rollback. For more about the ESA, read this blog.

On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee's environment subpanel will look at modernizing the environmental laws under its jurisdiction, including the Clean Air Act and the brownfields provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Information about that panel can be found here: https://energycommerce.house.gov/hearings-and-votes/hearings/modernizing-environmental-laws-challenges-and-opportunities-expanding. Many species, not least of all humans, benefit from laws that protect air and water. We have come a long way since Lake Erie was dead, some rivers in the United States regularly caught fire, and smog was fatal. We welcome changes that strengthen environmental, but doubt the panel is truly interested in doing so.

If you follow us and are concerned about these issues, we encourage you to follow the American Bird Conservancy, which is deeply involved in protection for birds on all sorts of levels (including wind turbines, something we get a lot of questions about): https://abcbirds.org/. We also follow the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Society, a non-profit hunting conservation organization that is deeply involved in expanding CRP and preserving public land: http://www.trcp.org/.

2016 by the Numbers!

To help kick-off Giving Tuesday on Tuesday, November 29, we wanted to talk about what got done in 2016. Here are the things your donations helped us get done! Please donate to the Raptor Resource Project to help us continue our work in 2017 and beyond! 

Online Interaction and Education

Since January 1, 2016, we have:

• Provided 1,785 hours of chat on the Decorah eagles channel, including 449 hours of dedicated educational chat. Our Decorah North group provided 576 hours of moderated chat, including special coverage following the deaths of DN3 and DN2. 
• Posted 364 times on Facebook. Topics and photos included the Decorah Eagles, the Decorah North Eagles, the GSB Peregrine falcons, the Fort St. Vrain eagles, tracking D24 and D25, Robin Brumm's trips to Decorah, peregrine falcon banding, nest box work, and many other topics related to our nests and birds. Posts were shared from Neil Rettig Productions, SOAR, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, and Jim Brandenberg's 365 Nature project. 
• Wrote 31 blogs. We addressed questions about the eagles, the nests (Is N2B big enough?), nest intruders, eaglet growth and development, the proposed 30-year take of eagles, and the deaths of DN2 and DN3, and much more!
• Expanded our online offerings to explore.org. This ads-free site is presently one of two that streams the Decorah Eagles North channel.

I need to give a shoutout to our amazing volunteer moderators. I have said it before and I will say it again - our volunteers make our pages the best on the web and we could not provide our online educational program without their help!

Monitoring, Banding, Trapping, Recovery, and Nestbox Maintenance
Since January 1, 2016, we have:

• Monitored over 50 peregrine falcon and bald eagle nest sites and potential territories in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Colorado.
• Banded 76 falcons at 25 sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois between May 20 and June 16 - a record for us! Our northernmost territory was in Cohasset, Minnesota and our southernmost territory was in Peoria, Illinois. As always, we reported all banding and follow up data to the Bird Banding Lab and the Midwest Peregrine Society.
• Installed 2 tracking platforms on D24 and D25 in July. Thanks to the platforms, we know that D25 was killed in a collision with a car in September, but D24 is still going strong! 
• Retrieved DN2's body from Decorah North in May, and the unhatched eagle egg from N2B in September. DN2's autopsy can be found here. We are waiting for a report on the egg. 
• Changed gravel at 3 peregrine nest boxes in October and November. The US Bank box in La Crosse also got a new top and we fixed the private camera at the Greysolon box in Duluth.

Thanks to our utility, industrial, and landowner partners for all of their help and support! A huge thanks to Brett Mandernack for including 'our' eagles in his studies and for sharing all of the data about their whereabouts and fates. Thanks also to David and Ann Lynch for their help with the transmitter project. We couldn't do it without all of you!

Camera Research and Installation

We focus on camera installation and nest box maintenance in September and October. Bald eagle cam work ends on October 1st, which is considered the start of the active season in our area. Peregrine falcon work can be done later since we don't tend to see much of them again until late February or early March. Even territorial falcons are less defensive of their nest sites this time of the year.

• John Howe, Kike Arnal, David Kester, David Lynch, Ann Lynch, John Dingley, Amy Ries, Bill Heston (Xcel Energy), and Pat Donahue (also from Xcel Energy) installed a total of six cameras and four microphones at N1, N2B, Decorah North, Fort St. Vrain, and GSB between September 17 and October 16. We also provided technical support for the Seneca Nation of Indians (a bald eagle cam) and the Marshy Point Nature Center (Marshy Point ospreys). The installations took roughly 900 hours total. 
• John Howe put in hundreds of hours researching, ordering, and testing cameras this year. While the majority of our installs are done in September and October, camera and streaming research take place year-round. In 2016, we began to move towards 4K at Decorah North and GSB - a big jump for us - and improved the audio at Decorah and Decorah North.

Other Stuff

• We threw our annual After The Fledge party between July 14th and July 16th. Almost 100 eagle fans and volunteers had a blast celebrating the Decorah eagles and Decorah itself!
• We provided ongoing technical support to followers who experienced problems watching our eagles, viewing Facebook, and participating in chat. Over 800 followers received support via our website, and an unknown number received support via our Facebook and Twitter.
• We partnered with Ustream to provide temporary ads-free viewing to 347 teachers and their students.
• John trained 4 volunteers to operate our cameras remotely - a new and very welcome step for us and our followers. 

Thank you for all of your support and for your donations. They make a difference and we couldn't continue to do it without them! 

Great Spirit Bluff Peregrine Falcon Update

By now most of you are aware that all four young falcons jumped from the nest box at Great Spirit Bluff on June 17th. They were approximately 10 days away from fledging. Searchers were only able to find one of four falcons. Bob evaluated Jonathon, a male, and decided to augment/foster Jonathon into another nest box rather than risk having him jump out again. He chose Red Wing Grain as the new site, since the two young falcons there are about the same age as Jonathon. We fostered Jonathon on the morning of June 19th and he seems to have adapted quite well to his new surroundings. 

We chose not to continue the search after the first night. Like many young animals, the falcons either hide or try to scurry under cover when they hear threats approaching. We didn't want to drive them so deep in into the undergrowth that Michelle and Travis couldn't reach them. Since then, we have heard the young falcons calling from the area below the nest box, and we have witnessed Michelle and Travis carrying what appears to be prey down below. We hope to see the young falcons at the nest box or on the ledge again, but only time will tell. 

We have received numerous questions regarding the nest box at Great Spirit Bluff. Is it a safe box? It is. In the Midwest alone, over 1,000 falcons have been produced at nest boxes that use this design, which provides shelter from the weather and perches for sitting. Netting under the boxes is out of the question, since the falcons would snag their talons, and holes or venting in the side of the boxes to let in wind would also let in rain and snow.

Absent external stimuli, Bob has never seen young falcons jump from a nest box or cliff as they did at Great Spirit Bluff. He believes that insects caused the young falcons to stampede from the box. Just a few weeks ago, 17 of 20 adult whooping cranes in central Wisconsin deserted their eggs due to black flies, as reported in the Wausau Daily Herald. http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20130525/WDH01/305250345/Black-flies-endanger-whooping-crane-nests

Please refer to this blog post for more information about insects, intervention, and fosterage: http://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2013/06/great-spirit-bluff-falcons-intervention.html

Although we knew the gnats and black flies were bad, we were unable to intervene earlier, since that would most likely have caused the young falcons to jump before they had developed their flight feathers. In short, the risk of injury or death was higher if we went to the box than if we did not. This was an unusual and unfortunate situation. We haven't seen it before and we hope never to see it again.

To view the Red Wing Falcons, click on this link, and then choose Red Wing Grain Falcons from the left side and click on that link: http://www.farmyou.com/falcon_cams/index.html. This cam may not always be available, since it has limited bandwidth. 

A big thank you to the Howe family for responding so quickly, climber Dan for last minute assistance, and the staff of Red Wing Grain for letting us foster a falcon into their box on very short notice. Bob made a difficult decision in a stressful situation, but he made it in the best interests of Jonathan, who is thriving in his new home.

Great Spirit Bluff Falcons: Intervention, Insects, and Fosterage

Bugs. Check the video at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34496685/highlight/371827

Bob made a decision today to intervene in the situation at Great Spirit Bluff, where four young falcons fell from the front perch. Intervention is always a tough call. He decided to intervene because:

• We have never seen or heard of a situation where three (eventually four) falcons that were 30 days of age or a little younger jumped out of the nest box absent any visible stimuli such as a threat approaching them. Bob said that we might expect to see 'branching' at 35 to 37+ days of age, but 30 days was too young. Something was wrong. His exact quote: "In all of my years of working with peregrine falcons I have never seen young falcons jump or slip off to their death. I have seen falcons nest on 1,000 foot cliffs on a ledge the size of a dinner plate and they always wait until they are feathered enough to fly. I am starting to wonder if we have a unusual hatch of parasites driving the falcons crazy. The only way a young falcon at this age could survive the fall is if by some chance it was slowed down hitting leaves or small limbs. Again, in all of my years of working with peregrine falcons this is new to me. We have had cameras on nesting falcons for twenty years and not witnessed this behavior." 
• We've seen a lot of mortality this year at nest boxes. Of sites that hatched falcons, seven have experienced losses - a record for us. Per the quote, Bob theorized that insects and parasites might be causing problems following an unusually late and wet spring. This gave us a chance to save the falcons, if possible, and determine if parasitism or insects had played a role in driving the young falcons from the box. 

In short, GSBDweller let us know that young  falcons were jumping from the box. Bob decided this unusual behavior needed to be investigated and headed for the bluff. George Howe, director of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy, quickly put together a search team and found another climber to help Bob, since it isn't a good idea for one person to be out on rope alone.

George's team went up the bluff from the bottom, where they found falcon Jonathan. Bob's team waited on top, since the last young falcon was out on the perch. They didn't want to rappel and risk bumping it, since its flight feathers were too short for true flight. If the falcon fell, it might survive if it hit leaves or small branches on the way down. Or it might not. The team elected not to rappel unless the young falcon went back into the box.  However, they were able to observe clouds of insects around the young falcon and adults, once they perched. The falcons were clearly bothered by the insects that swarmed them. 

Bob and Dan had pulled back from the bluff and were packing up when the last young falcon fell. Dan rappelled down to the end of his rope but was unable to find the young falcon. The talus slope is steep and covered in thick brush, and the young falcons would probably hunker down and remain quiet in the presence of human beings and other threats, making them very hard to find. The ground search is over, since at this point we would be more likely to do harm than good. We don't want to drive the young falcons from the top of the talus slope into the brambles, where Travis and Michelle would be unable to reach them. 

So now we needed to decide what to do with Jonathan, the young falcon that was recovered. He was seemingly healthy. Did we want to put him back in the box? Bob decided against it, since he thought it was highly likely he would leap again. We looked at nests with falcons that were the roughly the same age. Red Wing Grain had two falcons only about a day apart in age. We decided to foster Jonathan because: 

• Jonathan was unharmed and should be kept in the wild if at all possible.
• All four falcons abandoned the box due to flies or gnats. Even with treatment, the problem seemed likely to happen again. Since we haven't seen as severe a problem with the falcons at Red Wing, it seemed likely that fostering or augmenting Jonathan would give him the best chance at survival.
• Fostering/augmenting is a proven technique that was commonly used in the early days of falcon recovery. Bob used augmentation a number of times in the early days of falcon recovery. Adult falcons don't count young, so as long as everyone is roughly the same age, augmentation can be used to introduce young falcons into the wild. 

Bob will most likely be fostering/augmenting Jonathan on Wednesday morning (he will keep Jonathan in his mews for a little observation prior to release). It seems likely that our pattern of disappearing and dying young falcons might be caused by insects and parasites in some combination - a "mega-hatch" caused by the late, wet spring. We'll let you know what we find out. 

We have some film clips here: 

• Young falcons and bugs: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34496685/highlight/371827
• 1st falcon falls from box: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34496685/highlight/371837
• 2nd falcon falls from box: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34497469/highlight/371841
• 3rd falcon falls from box: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34497469/highlight/371843
• 4th young falcon goes back into box (it fell later): http://youtu.be/SOu32va6oRo

Peregrine Falcon Courtship

We are starting to see courtship at a number of peregrine nests. Those of you who watched at last year might remember that the falcons were in full laying mode by the first week of April. The cold spring seems to have pushed nesting activities just a little farther back this year, since by the last week of March 2012 we already had peregrine eggs at three nests.

The falcons begin with ledge and cliff displays, bowing and calling loudly. The male brings gifts of food to the female, often engaging in acrobatic mid-air food transfers. As courtship progresses, the falcons build a scrape for their eggs, digging into the gravel with their breasts and pushing to create a scrape. The male may solicit the female by bowing and e-chupping. Finally, both falcons bow and e-chup over the scrape.

GSBDweller caught Travis bringing Michelle food on Tuesday. We'll be watching closely for courtship activities at Great Spirit Bluff.

Migration!

At whatever moment you read these words, day or night, there are birds aloft in the skies of the Western Hemisphere, migrating. If it is spring or fall, the great pivot points of the year, then the continents are swarming with billions of traveling birds...
- Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds

We get a lot of questions about migration. Do the Decorah eagles migrate? Do our Peregrine falcons migrate? Where do they go when they leave? We fitted two young eagles with tracking devices in part to help answer some of these questions.

I used to think migration was very simple. Like a lot of people, I thought that all birds except chickadees, pigeons, crows, and woodpeckers migrated once it got cold. They went south to escape snow and ice, returning to nest when the weather warmed up. 'South' was anywhere it didn't snow, or at least didn't snow much: Georgia, the Gulf Coast, South America. I had no idea that many birds don't migrate, or that 'south' could be Minnesota or Wisconsin. Peregrines and Bald eagles taught me otherwise.

Bald eagles and Peregrine falcons are partial migrators - that is, some members of the species migrate and others do not. Mom and Dad Decorah both stay put on their territory year round. They have abundant food and water, so there is no reason to leave. Belinda, the falcon at the Xcel Allen S. King plant in Stillwater, Minnesota, also has a history of staying put. There is abundant food on territory and an open water supply slightly south of the plant. In both cases, the resident bird or birds' presence may make it easier for them to preserve their territory without having to chase off interlopers that set up house in their absence.

However, other birds, even those with defined nesting territories, leave. Immature and adult Bald eagles congregate in large numbers by open water along the Mississippi river, a very important flyway for many kinds of birds here in the midwest. Belinda may stay put but it is not uncommon to see interloping falcons at empty nestboxes: just two weeks ago, Brenda Geisler spotted a Peregrine falcon from North Dakota at the Great River Energy nestbox in Elk River, Minnesota. What is migration and why do some birds stay put while others leave?

Among birds, migration is the regular, endogenously controlled, seasonal movement of birds between breeding and non-breeding areas (Salewski and Bruderer 2007). Bald eagles and Peregrine falcons are partial migrators - that is, some members of the species migrate and others don't. This is the most common type of migration, which makes sense since migration is driven by a number of factors, including daylight length, food availability, weather, the time it takes to raise young, and the distance between wintering and breeding grounds. Migration allows exploitation of different habitats as environments change seasonally or successionally (Dingle, 1996). Food availability seems to play a very important role in the migration of Bald eagles: inland northern Bald eagles tend to move southward after ice and snow start putting a lid over their favorite food source - fish, while southern Bald eagles are thought to move northward once warm weather drives fish into deeper water (there is some debate about this). Weather can also impact migration timing in other ways: for example, a favorable wind pattern might help compel a bird to leave for its wintering or summering grounds if other factors are in place.

In general, young Bald eagles are much more nomadic than adult Bald eagles, something we've seen with both D1 and D14. In spring and summer, hatch-year and young sub-adult eagles may fly north to over-summering areas in the northern United States and southern Canada, returning to their birthplace in late summer or early autumn. Or they may not, as we've seen with D14. We don't know why D1 dispersed so much farther than D14 in her first year. Among Peregrine falcons, females tend to disperse farther than males* , but I haven't been able to find documentation of gender-related dispersal in Bald eagles. I'll keep looking, and you are welcome to post links and resources in the comments. Perhaps further study will shed some light on the issue. Eagle migration and dispersal is very complex.

So how do birds navigate? Migration studies have found four major methods:

• Magnetic sensing: Some birds, including pigeons, are able to use the direction and strength of Earth's magnetic fields to orient themselves. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/science/study-sheds-light-on-how-pigeons-navigate-by-magnetic-field.html?_r=0
• Geographic mapping: When I'm in Minneapolis, I use a number of tall buildings to help me orient the city. It turns out that birds do the same thing, using landforms and geographic features such as rivers, coastlines, and mountain ranges to guide them.
• Celestial navigation: migratory birds use the position of the sun (during the day) or the rotation of stars (at night) to orient themselves. Experiments done by Dr. Emlen in 1967 indicate that celestial navigation is learned. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/migration/navigation
• Learned Routes: Some bird species, such as sandhill cranes and snow geese, learn migration routes from their parents and other adult birds in the flock. Once learned, younger birds can travel the route successfully themselves.

What do Bald eagles and Peregrines do? It seems they most likely use multiple sources of information, including celestial and magnetic clues, light polarization, wind patterns and direction, and geographic cues (which would likely be highly correlated with geography). Although parents and young don't migrate together, D1 and D14 were in the company of other eagles every time we saw them, so I suspect that some degree of learning, or at least following, also plays a role. Again, we really have no idea why D1 and D14 behaved so differently.

We suspect that D1 will come back to NE Iowa this winter, following Lake Superior's western shore. We don't know whether she will come down along the Mississippi river or go back into western Wisconsin, where she spent so much time in the fall of 2011. But we are looking forward to finding out!

Some things that helped me write this post:

• Migrating raptors of the world: their ecology and conservation. Keith L. Bildstein
• Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds. Scott Weidensaul
• All About Birds: Navigation - http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/migration/navigation
• Migration: http://www.nps.gov/akso/parkwise/students/referencelibrary/general/migrationbasics.htm

* Regarding male Peregrine dispersal: of course, there are exceptions. We released Zeus, the male at Woodman Tower in Nebraska, in Rochester New York. We were very surprised when he showed up in Nebraska. Did he fly west intentionally or was he some how blown off course or lost?

Michelle, Travis, and Peregrine Questions

Michelle and Travis hatched two young falcons on 5/13/12, and the questions are already flying! I'll try to answer a few of the most common here.

1. Why are they nesting in gravel? I wish the hatchlings had grass or something softer!
Historically, peregrine falcons nested in two places: on cliffs and in trees. To quote: "Although the peregrine falcon is currently considered a cliff-nester, records indicate that it once nested in tree cavities (Goss 1878, Ridgway 1889, Ganier 1932, Bellrose 1938, Spofford 1942, 1943, 1945, 1947, Peterson 1948). The peregrine still uses cavities in broken-off trunks in Europe (Hickey 1942), but the hole-nesting population of America apparently disappeared with the felling of the great trees on which they depended (Hickey and Anderson 1969)."

Either way, peregrines did not build nests out of branches, twigs, or grasses. Cliff nesting birds use ledges or potholes. These commonly have some kind of substrate: sand, pebbles, dirt, and so on. The male and female dig and wiggle out a scrape, or shallow cavity, into which the female lays her eggs. The substrate provides drainage, cups the eggs, and helps keep them from breaking on the edges of the underlying rock. We use 80 pounds of pea gravel in our nest boxes to simulate a substrate and protect the eggs.

2. How long can the babies go without eating?
The hatchlings consume the egg yolk shortly before hatching, which gives them enough nutrition  for 24 to 48 hours. However, they don't usually have to go very long. Their first feeding was at 11:49am CST this morning.

3. What do falcons eat?  Falcons eat other birds. We've found the remains of pigeons, woodpeckers, coots, finches, blackbirds, ducks, cuckoos, and many other birds stashed in and around nests. In general, the adults catch a bird by diving or stooping on it. If the impact doesn't kill it, the adults use their tomial tooth - a notch in their beaks - to bite through their prey's cervical vertebrae. They pluck their prey prior to eating: "feather falls" have helped me locate Peregrine falcons at the Mayo Clinic and the Dairyland Alma power plant. 

Adult peregrine falcons eat about 2 1/2 ounces (70 grams) of food per day. Using a rough back-of-the-envelope calculation, males average 587 grams of weight and females average 1205. So males eat roughly 11% of their body weight each day. I'm guessing - and this is a guess - that females do the same, so Michelle probably eats a little more than Travis does. It has been speculated that  gender-based size differences allow male and female birds of prey to eat from a slightly different prey bases, widening the available food supply.

So based on this calculation, I'd need to eat about 16.5 pounds of food every day to keep up with Michelle.

4. How fast will the babies grow?
Peregrine falcons double their birth weight in 6 days, and are 10 times hatch weight in three weeks.
Like the eaglets, they start with a fluffy white coat of baby down. We'll start to see brown juvenile feathers emerging at about 20 days of age. By 40 days, the young birds will be sleek brown juvenile falcons.

Over the next few weeks, we'll see a lot of eating, sleeping, and pooping. Poop is a great way to locate the nests and perches of many kinds or birds. See bird poop? Look around for the bird!

5. Will Cain and Abel Syndrome be a problem here?I don't want to say 'No', but I haven't seen it at any of the other Peregrine falcon nests we watch. There is an ample food supply and Michelle and Travis are very good at caring for their young.

6. Mom and Dad are talking to the babies!
Yes, they are! We've already heard Michelle echupping encouragingly to her young immediately before their first feeding. We'll also hear the young food begging (which one website describes as 'screea screea screea'), and kakking: an alarm, defense, and 'annoyance' call. Peregrine falcons are  very vocal. I've had unhappy babies set my ears to ringing more than once.

7. Does the nest smell bad?
It depends! Some falcons are great housekeepers, while others (I'm looking at you, Hibbard plant falcons) let prey remains pile up in the nest. If the nest is messy, the young birds smell interesting to human banders - not bad, but not pleasant: a complex, spicy smell.

---

Things that helped me learn and write about Peregrine falcons:

• Bob Anderson. He knows more about Peregrine falcons than anyone I know. I should see if he'd be willing to echup on video: it is really amazing. Any mistakes in this blog are mine, not his!
• http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/wildlife/nesting_birds/birds1.htm (nesting birds)
• http://redandthepeanut.blogspot.com/2012/02/notch-in-peregrine-falcons-beak.html (tomial tooth. Very nice photograph and drawing).
• http://falconcam.travelers.com/falcon-faqs.html (falcon facts)
• http://www.pfht.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=nBU15gWur5w%3D&tabid=79 (falcon facts)

Peregrine Falcon FAQ

While we wait for eggs to hatch in Decorah, Valmont, and Fort St. Vrain, I thought I would talk a little bit about Peregrine falcons. Prior to the Decorah Bald eagle cam, Peregrine falcon recovery was what we were known for, to the extent we were known at all.

In Flight
The Peregrine is the fastest animal in the world, diving or stooping at speeds that can reach over 200 miles per hour. Almost everything about it is built for speed, from the baffles in its nose  to the jagged edges of its slim, stiff feathers and long, pointed wings.

The falcon catches other birds in flight by diving on them from above.  As she begins her stoop, she rolls, cups her wings around her body, and tucks in her feet. This change in shape streamlines her profile, yielding an aerodynamic raindrop that can cut through the air at high speeds.

Photo used with permission of Karen Carroll, http://www.birdsofprey.net

As she plummets her nictitating membrane, a transparent 'third eyelid', protects her eyes from dust and debris in the air and a secretory gland helps keep her corneas from drying up. A special cone or baffle in her nose regulates the amount of air entering her nasal cavity, allowing her to breathe and protecting her from damage. A curved flight path keeps her prey in view and reduces her aerodynamic drag. Before she strikes her prey, she'll experience G-Forces estimated at between 25-27 Gs.

The Peregrine meets her prey feet-first. She slows first, unfurling her wings and tail, and dropping her feet. After striking and stunning or killing it outright, she'll loop around in mid-air to retrieve it and take it to a safe place for plucking and eating.  

Falcon Belinda at Xcel Energy's Allen S. King plant aims at a reporter.

Lifestyles of the Fast and Furious
Falcons are roughly crow-sized. Females are about a third larger than males, although they both have bluish to slate grey backs,  barred or streaked white to rusty underparts, and a black hood. Adults have black beaks and yellow feet, although their babies may initially have bluish feet.  This is natural and not a cause for alarm.

Both males and females are highly territorial. Like eagles, Peregrine falcons are relatively monogamous (polygamy has been documented, but isn't common) and may or may not migrate. Unlike eagles, they are relatively solitary birds.

Traditionally, Peregrine falcons nest on cliffs, laying their eggs directly on a scrape they created in a gravel or sandy substrate.  In the midwest, Peregrine falcons generally:

• Lay eggs in late March or early April
• Hatch in late April to early May, or 33 days after the first egg is laid.
• Begin flying in mid-June or later, or about 40 days after hatch.

Peregrines make excellent, attentive parents. The babies cannot thermoregulate (control their temperature) until they are about 10 days old, so Mom spends a great deal of time huddling over them while Dad feeds everyone. As the babies age, both parents spend time hunting. The eyrie is small and the babies, which have among the fastest growth rates in the animal kingdom, are large and hungry. They eat, sleep, poop, and go from white fuzzballs to sleek brown juveniles in about five weeks.

Once they begin flying, the young peregrines spend a lot of learning how to fly and hunt: something that looks a lot like play to most human observers. Their parents will continue to provide some food for their newly fledged young who are not yet self-sufficient.  Come fall, the adults may or may not migrate, but their children will disperse. In our experience, the young falcons tend to leave in September. Once they are gone, they are gone. If they do come back to the nest, their parents will defend it from them. 

What to expect when falcons are expecting
The new Great Spirit Bluff nest cam wonderfully documented falcon courtship. The falcons engaged in  ledge displays on the roof of the nest box, bowing and calling loudly.


As courtship progressed he made a scrape, digging into the gravel with his breast and pushing with his legs to create a depression (males and females will do this - our video shows the male).


Finally, both falcons bowed and e-chupped over the scrape.


The male also courts the female with food. Our video shows him bringing it to the nest box, but falcons also transfer prey midair. There seems to be a little bit of food fight here as well, but think some courtship was going on.


She will probably lay three to four reddish speckled eggs sometime in March. Peregrine falcons do not begin full incubation until after egg number three is laid, so it is normal for her to spend time - even quite a bit of time, depending on how warm it is - away from eggs number one and two. Her eggs should begin hatching 33 days after the third egg is laid.

Mae's eggs, Xcel Energy Allen S. King Plant.
Some egg color variation is normal.

During incubation, she will experience hormonal changes that help keep her incubating. She may appear sleepy or lethargic, and will spend a lot of time picking at gravel and sitting more or less quietly on her eggs. She does most of the incubation, although the male will spell her briefly. The male is smaller and may have a harder time covering all of the eggs, depending how many are laid. We can also expect to see egg rolling (Brent, at the Allen S. King plant, is well-known for this) and some shimmying. This is not a particularly active time for the falcons: I've heard Bob refer to incubation as the 'egg doldrums'.

My reference list:

• Bob  Anderson
• Video makers razzle and chico70
• http://blogs.bu.edu/biolocomotion/2011/12/12/why-can-the-peregrine-falcon-fly-so-fast/
  (peregrine falcon and speed)
• http://blogs.bu.edu/biolocomotion/2011/10/07/the-fastest-animal-on-earth-the-peregrine-falcon/
  (peregrine falcon and speed)
  http://jeb.biologists.org/content/203/24/3755.abstract (curved flight plans and sideways vision)
  http://www.dvrconline.org/raptoradapt.html (raptor adaptations)
  http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/falcon.html (Falling with the peregrine falcon)
  http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/pefabehavior.htm (pefa behavior)

Egg Questions and Answers

We have the first Decorah Eagle egg of 2012! Mom laid it last night at 7:47 CST. Here is a video of the event (by razzle):

Egg Questions and Answers

How long does it take a bald eagle egg to hatch?
There are two ways to think about this: from egg laying to hatch, and from pip to hatch.

• From egg-laying to hatch: Most experts say 35 days, give or take a few. It took the Decorah Eagles 37 days in 2009 and 2011, and 36 days in 2010. 35 to 37 days is a safe bet. 
• From pip to hatch: Pipping occurs when the baby eagle's egg tooth first breaks through the eggshell. It can take as long as a day for the chick to fully hatch. 

How many eggs will the eagles lay? Will all of their eggs hatch?
Although the most common clutch size for eagles is two eggs, the Decorah Eagles have a history of laying three eggs. The breakdown among bald eagles in general is as follows:

• 79% of clutches have two eggs
• 17% of clutches have one egg
• 4% of clutches have three eggs

The eagles hatched all of their eggs in 2009, 2010, and 2011; however, fertilized eggs can fail to develop due to extreme cold, soft shells, or microorganisms. We are hopeful they will have another great year, but we won't know until it happens.

When does incubation begin?
In northern climates, Bald eagles lay eggs when it is still quite cold. They begin incubating immediately after the first egg to prevent the egg from freezing. The eggs hatch the same order and roughly the same interval in which they were laid. While the eaglets are still young, it is possible to identify hatchling number one by its size: it is older and therefore bigger than its nest mates. As the eaglets grow, this difference disappears.

Does Dad help incubate the eggs?
Based on our observations of the Decorah eagles, yes! Before all of the eggs are laid, Mom spends most of the time incubating and laying eggs. Once she is done, Dad incubates about 50% of the time.
Having said that, other nests have reported different divisions of labor, with Mom spending much more time incubating than Dad. We don't know why the eagles act differently from nest to nest, but they do.

Oh no! The eagles aren't sitting on their eggs!
Caring for eggs is a serious business. Everyone knows that eggs shouldn't get too cold, but they also can't get too hot, or the embryos will die. The adults sit on the eggs when they need heat and get off them when they need to be cooled. In particular, the Decorah Bald eagles lay eggs and care for nestlings in late winter and early spring, so their challenges include snow storms, ice, and rain. These things can be frightening to us, but Bald eagles have been coping with them for tens of thousands of years. It is okay for the adults to spend some time off their eggs.

The adult eagle also turn their eggs regularly. Turning the eggs helps keep them all at the same temperature and prevents the babies from sticking to the insides of the eggshells.

What do Bald eagle eggs look like, and how large are they?
Bald eagles lay white, oval shaped eggs. The eggs weigh approximately 125 grams or 4.4 ounces, and are on average about 2.9 inches long and 2.2 inches wide. Size-wise, they are just a tad smaller than a tennis ball, although tennis balls are round, not oval.

What causes the egg to hatch?
Mom and Dad Bald eagle apply heat through incubation, which causes the embryo to grow. At a certain point, it penetrates the air cell - that white sack-like membrane that can also be seen in chicken eggs - and its egg tooth penetrates the shell, creating a hole or pip. It usually hatches 24 to 48 hours after first pip.
The yolk of the egg is absorbed into the baby's stomach at this point, which gives it the energy it needs to hatch.

What is a brood patch?
A brood patch is a bare spot where feathers are missing. Hormonal changes linked to reproduction cause feathers to fall out, which creates a bare patch of skin that allows the incubating bird to better transfer heat to the eggs. Bob estimates that a Bald eagle's skin temperature is about 101F.

Some Bald eagles develop brood patches and some don't. We have not seen a developed brood patch on any of the three adult eagles we have monitored in Decorah, and they all incubated their eggs successfully.

Do Mom and Dad mate for life?
Yes, but if one eagle dies, another eagle will replace it.

Decorah Eagle Egg Videos

• How to tell the difference between Mom and Dad: http://youtu.be/5lARYcL5A50
• The first egg of 2012 being laid: http://youtu.be/j3NjcdT-4U4
• Dad and his new egg: http://youtu.be/G4MYx2J9n8w
• The 'Decorah Shimmy' from 2011 - the eagles settling on their eggs: http://youtu.be/8U_pme0dPhs
• 2011's first hatch: http://youtu.be/8U_pme0dPhs

We also have a third egg at Valmont! Snowflake laid her third egg early this morning or late last night. When we had chickens, I used to think of this time of year as the 'spring egg flood'. It looks like the egg flood has started! Here is a pic from the Valmont nest:


Happy birdwatching, everyone!