Great Spirit Bluff Falcons

[Kris G.]

Raptor Resource Project FB page

Eyas falcon MacIntosh fell from the nest box at Great Spirit Bluff. He appears to have been bothered by blackflies or gnats prior to attempting to jump to the outer perch. Unfortunately, he slipped through the gap and fell. Mom or Dad followed immediately, so if MacIntosh survived the fall, they will care for him until he fledges. He was just one day younger than the youngest falcon that fell last year and he is a smaller and lighter male, so he may survive the fall.

We checked the young falcon for hippoboscids and treated the box when we banded him on June 7th. At the time, he was healthy and parasite free. We are trying to determine whether Michelle and Travis are caring for MacIntosh via the camera and microphone, and reviewing footage to determine a course of action.

The last three years in the upper Midwest have seen a monsoon-like rain pattern, with very wet and very dry periods. Black flies lay eggs in running water, so the very wet spring has resulted in an explosive hatch. Black flies haven't previously been a problem at any of our boxes, but we may have to consider them when re-designing this one.

[Donna]

Not again!! Poor little guy! I sure hope he survived! Thanks

[Carol P.]

Hope the little one is ok.   

[patsy6]

Not again!  Poor little guy.  I hope he is okay like his sibs were last year.   

[Donna]

Was just over there, we can hear him!!!! 

[Carol P.]

That's good news Donna!   

[patsy6]

Oh, precious little one!  Let's hope he's not injured and his parents can find him and feed him.   

[Donna]

Oh, precious little one!  Let's hope he's not injured and his parents can find him and feed him.   

They both know where he is! They have been flying in and out of where he is!! He's screaming now!

http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons

[Kris G.]

Oh, precious little one!  Let's hope he's not injured and his parents can find him and feed him.   

They both know where he is! They have been flying in and out of where he is!! He's screaming now!

http://www.ustream.tv/greatspiritblufffalcons

Great news!   

[patsy6]

 

[Donna]

Mom and dad have been alarm calling for over an hour now! Something down there bothering them. Hope nothing after Mac! Horrible sounds worse then at banding!!

[MAK]

 

[Kris G.]

Mom and dad have been alarm calling for over an hour now! Something down there bothering them. Hope nothing after Mac! Horrible sounds worse then at banding!!

The Howe's were going to leave everything alone but with the parents sounding stressed, it was posted they're going to investigate what's going on.

[Carol P.]

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on what's going on here Donna and Kris.  Sure hope the little one is ok.

[Donna]

Raptor Resource Project:  This also happened last year. We treated the box when banding this year in hope of preventing a recurrence. Unfortunately, it happened anyway. Like last year, we are hoping MacIntosh survived the fall. We have never had this kind of problem with blackflies previously, but may have to incorporate it into our box redesign here.

Raptor Resource Project: We can't use a net. Nets are historically used to capture all kinds of birds because they easily become entangled - very undesirable in a wild nest. We will consider if changes can be done to box design to help avoid a new and so far (thankfully) very unusual problem.

Raptor Resource Project:  We installed the box after they tried and failed to nest on the ledge below. We don't really have many places to move the box. We may be able to make some changes to perch design, although they can't impact overall weight and size too much since we have to get the box over the cliff and place it using minimal tools. This is a new problem and it will take some careful thought and consideration to address.

Raptor Resource Project:  Boxes with this basic design have produced thousands of falcons since we began placing them in the late 1980s. Last year was the first year we saw a problem with black flies stampeding young from the box. We thought that might have been an exception, since we had never seen it before. GSB wasn't successful at all before we put a box here in the early 2000s. Falcons tried to nest on the ledge below the box but weren't successful, probably due to raccoon (we found raccoon poop on the ledge).

So what's going on with blackflies? They caused falcons to jump here last year, are implicated in the fall this year, and caused widespread whooping crane and loon nest failures in 2013 and 2014. Are monsoon weather and explosive blackfly hatches the new normal? If so, how do we deal with it - and how many other birds are suffering reduced production and fatalities as a result? A sobering thought. If we change some aspect of nestbox design - and that is an if, given how successful the design has been overall - we need to make sure that our response is helpful and accomplish-able given the challenges of installing nestboxes in places like this. It's a much more complicated task than it appears.