US peregrine falcons adapt well to city living as their coastal cousins struggle with bird flu

ELIZABETH N J AP After rebounding in contemporary decades due to conservation efforts the number of once-imperiled peregrine falcons in the U S has been dropping again in several places due to the bird flu that has decimated other avian populations in latest years Although falcons in coastal parts of the country have been hit hard researchers say others that set up camp in several of the country s biggest cities appear to be thriving showing the world s fastest bird has acclimated to living among people They re also amassing fans as legions of devotees follow along on webcams each spring as the falcons progress from hatching to leaving the nest Wildlife can really adapt to these harsh urban environments reported Christopher Nadareski research scientist with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection That s the key here is that despite these harsh living conditions for them they still find means to survive A rise and fall in fortunes Peregrines are expert hunters who feast on other birds With large eyes and bright yellow feet armed with needle-sharp talons they fly to great heights before diving on unsuspecting prey sometimes reaching speeds greater than mph kph Their populations declined with the use of the pesticide DDT which infiltrated the food chain and made their shells too weak to hatch By the s peregrines disappeared from the eastern half of the country But in DDT was banned and conservationists began bringing the birds back from the brink They came off the federal endangered species list in Nesting pairs in New Jersey for example went from fewer than five in to nearly by Their numbers began dropping again though with the bird flu outbreak The drop has been particularly severe among coastal peregrines which feast on ducks geese and other waterfowl that tend to congregate in great numbers and thus allow affection to spread more easily announced Kathy Clark head of New Jersey s Endangered and Nongame Species Plan Although bird flu is suspected as the cause of multiple coastal New Jersey nests emptying out researchers have only been able to recover specific of the dead falcons carcasses she declared noting that a large number of of those tested positive for the sickness Coastal peregrines in other states including California and Virginia have also seen declines with bird flu suspected It s not all doom and gloom though as New York Department of Conservation wildlife biologist Angelena Ross reported enough juveniles are moving into coastal areas to begin replenishing the numbers Movin on up Peregrines that made nests among the glass and steel of big cities seem to have avoided the worst of the bird flu outbreak decimating their country cousins City falcons which eat songbirds and pigeons among other birds haven t seen the same declines Clark stated And they ve successfully added buildings and bridges to the their natural habitats which include places like the Delaware Water Gap and the Palisades overlooking New York from the New Jersey side of the Hudson River Various even made a home on the busy George Washington Bridge where scientists in recent months fitted chicks with anklets for tracking New York state conservation functionaries estimate that the Big Apple has the largest urban population of peregrines around We re starting to see increases in success so that in New York City we are at the point where we re likely the majority of concentrated populated peregrine falcon nesting in the whole world at this point We have about nesting pairs Nadareski announced Symbol of hope The bird s popularity tethered in large part to its status as the world s fastest has soared not long ago with thousands following live cams of peregrines around the country With plenty of downtime between moments of drama a mauled woodpecker here a blue jay head there the chicks start mimicking their parents flapping their wings and grabbing nest detritus with their talons around May May is also when East Coast biologists band the birds so they can be tracked In New Jersey Wurst and Clark were among the crew that in the past few days ventured high up onto the roof of the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth to retrieve and four young chicks for banding as their parents swooped at them using feather dusters to ward off the angry birds Specific individuals are more aggressive than others mentioned Ben Wurst a biologist with Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey at a modern chick banding in Elizabeth Normally they just kind of bonk you They put the young birds in canvas totes to carry off the roof for a checkup and to attach their bracelets which have an individual number so they can be tracked Three females and one male chick made up the clutch Clark commented These birds are going to be the ones to repopulate hopefully Clark revealed It s a great symbol of hope Associated Press videojournalist Joseph Frederick in New York contributed to this document Source