A young peregrine falcon, one of three hatched in a nest at University of Michigan Hospital this spring, had to be euthanized after it was found on campus with a gunshot wound, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has confirmed.
The bird’s death is a blow to those celebrating the Ann Arbor falcons’ first successful hatching of chicks.
Shooting one of the birds is a misdemeanor crime, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. It’s also an outrage, said raptor rehabilitator Dody Wyman, who runs the River Raisin Raptor Center in Manchester.
“It’s difficult to understand why anyone would shoot a bird,” Wyman said.
The bird, with a badly injured wing, was found between two buildings at 300 E. Hoover St. about 7 a.m. on Aug. 15.
The bird was taken to another wildlife rehabilitator in the area who had its wing X-rayed. Wyman also examined the falcon and the rehabilitators determined it would not recover from the wound, so it was euthanized.
The fact that one of the chicks died within a few months of its birth is not terribly surprising, said Janet Hinshaw, collections manager at the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Young birds do tend to have accidents and often die in their first year of life. “But to have it shot is just really too bad and kind of bizarre,” she said.
Tom Cooley, wildlife biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said the bird’s wing had obvious round entrance and exit wounds consistent with being shot by a bb or pellet gun. He said it was not an injury from which a peregrine falcon could recover.
Cooley said the shooting had to have occurred near the spot where the falcon was found because the severity of the injury would have prevented it from flying.
Anyone who has information about the falcon’s shooting is encouraged to call the state’s Report All Poaching hot line at 800-292-7800, said Lt. Jane Gordon of the law enforcement division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Meanwhile, bird watchers and biologists remain hopeful that the nesting pair will stick around and hatch another brood next spring. Peregrine falcons are on Michigan’s endangered species list, though they were removed from the federal list in 1999
Two peregrines had been seen around Ann Arbor since 2006, most often on Burton Tower, but they had not been successful nesting there, said Karen Cleveland, an all-bird biologist with the DNR. Cleveland said she brought a nesting box to University Hospital, where it was installed. The birds soon set up housekeeping in the box, and this spring, hatched three chicks.
Assuming the other two fledglings are still healthy, they will likely leave the area, Cleveland said. Young peregrines tend to roam far afield. Also, the Ann Arbor area is likely to only support one nesting pair. There aren’t enough tall structures in the Ann Arbor area far enough apart to avoid conflicts between two nesting pairs, she said. “Somebody’s just going to get beat on all day long.”
One of the 3 chicks was shot.
So darn sad!.
