Good NewsEndangered Peregrine falcons are fighting back from extinction
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They’ve been an endangered species for more than 50 years, but these little falcons are slowly making a comeback to recovery.
The particular falcons became an endangered species back in the 1960s. Peregrine falcons were threatened by the use of certain pesticides and while there have been bans on such pesticides, there are only a few thousand Peregrine falcons living in North America.
For years, organizations like the Canadian Peregrine Foundation in Toronto have been monitoring the ongoing recovery of this species.
Man-made nest boxes have been setup on rooftop buildings and in towers across the world to monitor the recovery progress of these fast-flying falcons, who can clock in at 322 km per hour.
“The peregrine falcon is still in its recovery, it has yet to recover to historical levels as a result of decontamination and a lot of environmental challenges,” Mark Nash, the executive director of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, told CTV News.
And earlier this week, at the Oshawa Lakeridge Hospital in Ontario, a healthy baby falcon had his first check up.
It was banding day for baby boy, Atlas! Hospital officials tagged and weighed the bird to gather more information about the falcon population. At 26 days old, the chick weighed in at just 750 grams.
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Over the years, Peregrine falcons have had many setbacks in their road to recovery, including bad weather.
“There have been many failed nest sites where no eggs hatched and production was low this year overall,” reports the Canadian Peregrine Foundation on their site. They blame the cold spring as a likely cause for the failure.
In most of these nest sites, webcams have been setup to capture precious moments for the world to witness. Family falcons have made many appearances on the webcams and many have seen their ongoing progress to reach higher numbers in population.
But the road to recovery for these birds is still a long journey. Many experts say the numbers are small and these falcons need to be protected from harm.
