BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
and The Associated Press
The peregrine falcon population has recovered enough that the government will remove it from the federal endangered species list today, but wildlife experts say they won't abandon the work that brought the bird back from near extinction.
"The fact that the Secretary of Interior proposed that they be removed from the endangered list doesn't affect what goes on in Ohio," said David Scott, falcon coordinator for the Ohio Division of Wildlife. "We will continue to manage them as we have in the past." Likewise, wildlife experts on the West Coast will also continue to strengthen peregrine numbers.
"We're trying to repopulate one of the last areas of the coast that doesn't have peregrines," said Brian Walton, coordinator of the Predatory Bird Research Group at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The government's plans to "de-list" the peregrine today highlights the dramatic recovery of a species ravaged by pesticides. In the mid-1970s, there were fewer than 35 nesting pairs of peregrines. In California, just two known pairs survived, down from more than 200 in the 1930s. There were none known to be in Ohio in 1990.
Now, there are about 12 pairs of peregrines in Ohio, including a mating pair in Cincinnati known as Falcor and Falcar. Despite federal plans, the birds will remain on Ohio's list of endangered species.
Ohio has been "very successful" in contributing to the national rebirth of the falcons, said Mr. Scott.
"Ohio, historically, has not had peregrine nesting. We don't have the natural cliff-type habitats that peregrines nest on," said Mr. Scott. "So, the only part of Ohio that really resembles cliffs are skyscrapers.
"And peregrines have quickly taken advantage of that new habitat." Falcor, the male falcon, was released here with six other chicks in 1990. His mate, Falcar, flew here on her own from Indianapolis. Unlike other pairs in Ohio, the two downtown Cincinnati falcons failed to produce fledgings this year.
Even after birth, the survival of a peregrine chick isn't assured unless it can master the art of nabbing dinner at 180 mph.
"Most of the young die through natural selection processes, trying to be a good falcon," Mr. Walton said.
The coast from Marin County north to the Oregon state line remains a problem. There are only a few nesting pairs, far short of the 20 required for a stable population, Mr. Walton said.
Wildlife experts hope they can boost the population by introducing several more chicks along the North Coast -- a total of about 20 this year.
Ohio experts hope that newborns this year will boost the state's peregrine population.
This year in Ohio a pair of peregrines in Columbus produced three young; a Toledo pair fledged three and an Akron pair fledged one. In the Cleveland area -- where there are four mating pairs -- three of those pairs fledged a total of seven young.
A pair in Dayton also fledged three young. A new pair of peregrines in Lima did not mate but set up territory.
Only in Cleves and Cincinnati were the peregrines unsuccessful in fledging, Mr. Scott said.
"We now have been in the top three states in the production of peregrines (in the midwest)," Mr. Scott said. "I'd say we've been very successful in contributing to the overall goal."
