PEREGRINES CONTINUE RETURN TO PENNSYLVANIA'S CLIFFS
Pennsylvania Game Commission officials have confirmed a pair of state-endangered peregrine falcons has successfully nested near this confluence community. It's the third known wild nest that peregrines have established in Pennsylvania in half a century.
"Crippled reproductively by the pesticide DDT, peregrine falcons stopped nesting in Pennsylvania in the late 1950s," explained Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "With the banning of DDT in the early '70s and reintroduction efforts in several northeastern states - including Pennsylvania - through the '80s and '90s, peregrines slowly began to reclaim their nesting range throughout the Northeast."
But there were obstacles along the way. One of the most notable was the great horned owl, which readily preyed on young falcons that were being reintroduced on the cliffs peregrines had nested upon for centuries. Wildlife managers, however, pulled an end-around on the owls: they began reintroducing falcons in urban environments, at elevations where great-horns aren't as much of a threat. The falcons responded in a big way.
"Since the early 1990s, peregrines have established about two dozen nests in Pennsylvania, mostly on buildings and bridges in the state's larger cities," Roe said. "But, in 2003, a pair of peregrines nested successfully on a cliff in Lycoming County. It signaled a new era for Pennsylvania's peregrines; the birds were finally transitioning to the more than 40 cliffs they had previously nested on."
In five years, falcons have established three productive "wild" nests in Pennsylvania. Their comeback - considering the number of Commonwealth nests - qualifies as a legitimate success story. But from a clinical perspective, it's still not enough of a recovery to prompt the Game Commission to remove them from the state Endangered Species List. To achieve such action would take about 20 cliff nests.
"We are thrilled that peregrines continue to prosper in Pennsylvania," noted Dan Brauning, the agency's Wildlife Diversity Section supervisor. "Each new nest strengthens their recovery. But we'd like to see peregrines continuing to return to the cliffs on which they used to nest. This ongoing - and hopefully increasing - natural expansion from urban areas, coupled with the reduction in threats that cliffs offer - will solidify their future and restore one of the state's most exciting predators to the wild areas they once thrived in."
For more information and to see photos, please visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency website:
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=11&Q=174429