Peregrine Falcon
Pesticide Regulation and "Soft Release" Reintroduction
More
than three decades after being placed on the endangered species list,
the American Peregrine Falcon has made a remarkable comeback. A victim
of reproductive failure due to the eggshell-thinning effects of DDT
contamination, by the 1960s the bird's numbers had dwindled to the
point that no nesting pairs could be found in the eastern United
States, and it was fast diminishing elsewhere on the continent.
Fortunately, the banning of DDT in 1972 along with intensive
conservation efforts led to the species' successful recovery. In 1999
the Peregrine Falcon was removed from the endangered species list
("delisted"), although it will continue to be monitored for several
years, as required by law.
For more information on Peregrine Falcon, go to the species account in our Bird Guide.
Cornell
Lab of Ornithology researcher and lifelong falconer Tom J. Cade (shown
here with a juvenile Peregrine Falcon) founded the Peregrine Fund in
1970. Thus began an ambitious program to rear Peregrine Falcons in
captivity and reintroduce them to the wild.
Using a variety of techniques (artificial insemination, artificial
incubation of fragile eggs rescued from wild nests, fostering of
nestlings by other raptor species, and eventually releasing young
peregrines at natural or artificial nest sites), Cade's team and their
collaborators around the country gradually boosted peregrine numbers
such that natural breeding started to occur, allowing the population to
recover.
In 1984 The Peregrine Fund relocated to help establish the World Center
for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, where its researchers are now
helping to save threatened raptors and other birds worldwide, using
captive-rearing and reintroduction methods similar to those developed
for the Peregrine Falcon.