Local Birds In The News
Peregrine Falcons Nesting In Richmond
Article By Jerry Ulhman
Flyways and Byways
Photo by Bob Schamerhorn
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From the 20th floor of Riverfront Plaza West Tower in downtown Richmond, Mary Davis and her fellow officemates at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership have a stunning view of the city. And, best of all, they have eyeball-to-eyeball looks at a pair of peregrine falcons who live and hunt among the skyscrapers.
These birds are part of a well-publicized falcon restoration project sponsored by Dominion Virginia Power and several partners including the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. A number of the birds of prey are outfitted with satellite tracking devices so that scientists can learn more about where and how far the falcons migrate.
Davis becomes rhapsodic when talking about the visitors just outside her window: “I see them every day… It's great to have such wonderful entertainment while I'm working!” Her two falcons have become a common sight among downtown high-rises since they were introduced last fall atop Dominion Virginia Power’s main office and quickly made themselves at home. The pair, most likely a male and female that were released from the Dominion building in the summer of 2000, has entertained Richmond office workers for over a year.
It’s clear that Davis and other falcon-watchers are enjoying the aerial display. “A male falcon flew by our window so close I could have counted the stripes on his belly if he weren't so quick. A few minutes later he reappeared with food and landed overhead to eat. A few seconds later, the female abandoned her perch and came to join him. She is now on the First Union sign with the food. A lover’s spat, perhaps?”
The birds disappeared for a few days late this fall and Davis wondered if the birds had headed south for the winter. Tracking falcons has been a difficult job for scientists and that’s why the Dominion-sponsored program is important. Past attempts have met with little success.
The Canadian Wildlife Services, similar to our U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was one of the first agencies to track falcons in North America. Birds fitted with transmitters in northern Canada were tracked on migratory flights to Haiti and Cuba, southeast Venezuela, The Guatemala-Mexican border, and Brazil. The tracking signals for several of the experimental birds were lost, probably due to the death of the birds or a malfunctioning transmitter.
Young peregrine falcons have a difficult time surviving. The first year death-rate is as high as 80 percent because of fledglings’ poor flight skills or falls from nests. Later during their first migratory flight, young birds have to learn navigational skills and face poisoning and hunting hazards. The Canadian Peregrine Foundation estimates that only one or two out of ten birds survive to maturity. Once a bird reaches maturity, an adult may live and breed for many years.
Peregrine falcons have been designated as an endangered species for many years, and their numbers declined sharply with prolonged use of the pesticide DDT in North America. From roughly 7000 birds in the 1930s, the number dropped to only several hundred in the 1970s and the species disappeared from the East Coast entirely.
Falcons hunt other birds as a staple of their diet, birds that are as small as songbirds and large as gulls and ducks. During the species’ decline, many of the birds eaten by falcons were grain and seed-eaters, and their food source had been coated with DDT applied to agricultural fields where they foraged. Over time, falcons absorbed more and more pesticide, a substance that scientists found interfered with the birds’ ability to reproduce. Falcon eggshells were too thin to withstand the mother’s incubation.
Since DDT use was discontinued, the number of falcons rebounded dramatically in North America, but many breeding birds, especially those that migrate to Central and South America, still show high levels of DDT. The pesticide is still used to control insects in many countries and falcons ingest the substance as part of their diet before returning to breeding grounds in the U.S. and Canada.
Upon their return, peregrines fan out across North America, heading as far north as Alaska and the Artic. The species has the greatest range of any other bird. They stake out a territory to defend and establish nests, often on cliffs or ledges with a protective overhang, from 50 to 200 feet high.
Some falcons, however, do not migrate long distances and choose to stay in urban areas where a food supply of pigeons and grackles is plentiful. Mary Davis’ uptown birds may be among a growing number of peregrines that prefer the city’s bright lights to trekking back and forth to Ecuador or hunting in some other far-flung destination.
Whether hunting from a ledge in the Shenandoah Mountains or the roof of a skyscraper, a peregrine’s chase can be exciting to watch. Hunting usually at dawn or dusk, the hunters put their wings straight back and rocket after prey at speeds up to 200 miles an hour. With toes fully extended, they strike with their talons or forelegs and the impact is usually lethal. They catch their meal in the air or retrieve it where it lands.
Davis has watched the chase from her office window several times, but she’s more often seen the successful hunter dining on a ledge nearby. “Not long ago, one of the pair zipped after a flock of birds beyond the Verizon building. A few minutes later, it returned with food in talons—maybe a swift, but it's a little hard to tell at that distance.” The prey of choice seems to be pigeons—or, rock doves—but yellow-billed cuckoos, a fairly slow-flying bird that nests across the James River near Belle Isle and Reedy Creek, is also among the peregrines’ favorites.
Peregrines often hide their leftovers for a later meal and Davis has watched turkey vultures warily circle above a dining bird, waiting for it to fly off and leave the booty unattended. When a filching vulture get too close, often the falcon appears out of nowhere to harass the vulture and recapture a nearly lost meal. Davis has seen “feathers fly every which way” as the peregrine resolutely drove interlopers away.
The uptown birds show no signs of flying the coop. Nowadays, Davis and other falcon-watchers are waiting for springtime courting: “We’re hoping that this pair will reproduce this summer,” she says, brimming with anticipation. Until then, Davis and her neighbors can enjoy the aerial acrobatics of the chase, and the shower of feathers that slowly drift downward outside her window as one of those grand peregrines dines on the ledge right above her.
You can follow Richmond’s peregrine falcons and learn about satellite tracking of the birds at Dominion’s website, www.dom.com/about/environment/falcon.
Flyways and Byways is a regular birding column that appears on the third Saturday of each month. Want to suggest a topic for a future column? Got a question about birds or birding? Send questions or comments to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, POB 85333, Richmond, VA 23293, or e-mail me at flyways@erols.com.
© 2002 Jerry Uhlman. All rights reserved.
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