In Depth
The Peregrine Falcon
Cheetah of the sky
Last Updated November 6, 2006
Kellie Hudson, CBC Thunder Bay
The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on the planet, reaching speeds of more than 300 kilometres an hour, with nostrils so adept at breathing during its phenomenal dives that scientists mimicked the function for use in fighter jets.
Peregrines feed on doves, waterfowl and songbirds, but occasionally they'll go for bats, rats and rabbits. They generally are the size of a crow. Big-city-dwelling peregrines nesting high on skyscrapers feed on feral pigeons and starlings. The male can feed his mate on the fly when she flies upside down to receive food from the male's talons.
Forty years ago, this bird of prey was almost extinct as a result of pesticides such as DDT. The pesticide used to control insect infestation passed up the food chain to peregrines, causing thin eggshells and dead embryos, and drastically reducing reproduction.
For a time there were no nests, no eggs and in some places no peregrines. After the ban on DDT in the 1970s, the federal government set up a breeding facility in Alberta to raise peregrines in captivity and release their offspring to the wild. The population of peregrines slowly began to rebound.
Canada removed the peregrine from the endangered species list in 1999, improving peregrine's status to "threatened."
The risk designations are:
- Extinct: no longer exists.
- Extirpated: no longer exists in the wild in a region but occurs elsewhere.
- Endangered: facing imminent extinction or extirpation.
- Threatened: at risk of becoming endangered if limiting factors not reversed.
- Special Concern: has characteristics that make it sensitive to human activities or natural events.
There are now some 80 nesting peregrine pairs in Ontario, the majority living around Lake Superior in northwestern Ontario. Others have set up territories in more urban settings, in cities such as Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Montreal.
Brian Ratcliff, a biologist from Thunder Bay, calls the recovery a huge success. He's been working with peregrine falcons in the north for nearly 30 years.
"Things have progressed so quickly, which is amazing," Ratcliff says. "The population has responded well. It was just a matter of cleaning up the environment."
Not everyone agrees it's the right time to downlist.
Mark Nash is president of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to the recovery and protection of the peregrine and other birds of prey. He thinks the population is still too small. He'd like double the numbers.
In addition, he worries about new dangers such as air pollution, toxins like fire retardants, diseases like the West Nile virus and Avian flu. Will they be more harmful to the peregrine than DDT? And how will we know if no one is watching?
Nash also raises the issue of cross-breeding.
There are three sub-species of peregrine falcon in North America: Tundra, Peale's and Anatum. The latter was the most affected by DDT, the sub- species Canada set out to save. Unfortunately, the United States did not have equal access to the anatum peregrine falcon, so instead, as part of its recovery program, the U.S. used a variety of sub-species from around the world. Nash argues that anatums have been breeding with other sub-species, diluting the genetic pool.
Ratcliff dismisses many of Nash's arguments.
Hybrids? In a perfect world, he admits there would be no cross breeding. But, he says, peregrine means "wanderer." And unfortunately, birds don't understand international borders.
As for environmental hazards and population stability?
Ratcliff says "threatened" is still a serious designation and monitoring will continue.
"This is what we were striving for, right from the first," says Ratcliff. "That's the whole goal. Anybody working with any endangered species, what you are trying to do is to get them off the list. Slowly we're seeing the population recover everywhere across North America. Everything is looking good. It's a great story."
Nash will be watching too.
"This bird is truly a hero," Nash says. "The peregrine falcon was our canary in the coal mine. We learned a lot. And hopefully we'll continue to learn. I don't think this bird will ever stop telling us a story.
