This is an interesting excerpt from the PA Game Commission peregrine report today. Peregrines will remain on the state endangered species list because most of the current nests are in cities and not on cliffs in the wild.Dot in PAHARRISBURG – The peregrine falcon has firmly reestablished itself in the Commonwealth 50 years after its near extinction. But the Pennsylvania Game Commission wants more from peregrines before it will remove them from the state endangered species list.
“The peregrine falcon’s ongoing comeback and expanding nesting range have sparked considerable excitement throughout Pennsylvania, from our quietest rural areas to our largest cities,” said Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe. “There are 29 active peregrine nests in 14 counties and they have drawn great interest. They truly are an attractive, charismatic species and their recovery from the brink of extinction has everyone pulling for them.
“However, peregrines need to occupy more of their historic nesting sites before we can remove them from the state endangered species list,” Roe explained. “This year’s 29 nests are great news when you compare them to the 40 or more sites they used annually in the early 1900s, because it represents substantial progress. But only four of the 2010 nests are on cliffs, which was where almost all of their nests were located prior to their dramatic decline after World War II. So we’re looking for peregrines to occupy more river bluffs and precipices. Then we’ll relax a little more.”
It’s not that the Game Commission considers the preponderance of peregrine nests on building ledges and bridges to be inconsequential in the big picture. Just that biologists believe lasting peregrine population stability is directly related to reclaiming the cliffs where they’re less susceptible to the unique mortalities associated with living on manmade structures directly over large rivers and above cities.
