What North Carolina Natural Resources Commission biologists have long believed has been recently corroborated - the years spent hacking peregrine falcons in the wild has paid off.

Chris McGrath, mountain non-game project leader for NCNRC, said because they started their Peregrine Project with no nesting pairs of falcons in WNC and now they know of 10 suspected nesting sites, biologist and researchers felt sure hacked birds (reared by hand in the wild) were finding their way back to the mountains.

Falcons have strong site bonds, and though they are prolific wanderers, most return to the areas where they were raised seeking suitable nesting sites. Once a nesting site, or eyrie, has been selected, falcons will return year after year. Falcons were thought to be monogamous, but biologists discovered that site bonding was stronger than pair bonding, and often the first adult to return to the eyrie would mate with any suitable partner. The fact that both the male and female were bonded to the same site increased the odds of the two mating again but did not guarantee it.

Last year, McGrath and his crew were trying to determine if falcons at Devil’s Courthouse and nearby Victory Wall along the Blue Ridge Parkway were two pair or one pair spending time at both sites. By having spotters cover both locations simultaneously, they were able to determine that there was only one pair of birds.

McGrath was fortunate to be close enough to the male at Victory Wall to see the band and get the number from it. The bird was identified as a male that had been hacked at Pickens Nose in Macon County in 1996.

In 1998 as a volunteer with the Peregrine Project, I was assigned to Pickens Nose. That year one bird showed up. Last year I spent many days at Devil’s Courthouse watching the birds there raise three fledglings. There is some kind of strange comfort in the idea that the male at Devil’s Courthouse is “my” bird from Pickens Nose.

According to McGrath, there were 16 peregrines fledged last year in WNC. This year there are birds at 10 different sites. Birds at Panthertail near Lake Toxaway, Shortoff Mountain in Linville Gorge, and Big Lost Cove near Grandfather Mountain are known to be incubating. McGrath suspects that birds at Looking Glass in Transylvania County and Whitesides Mountain in Jackson County are also on eggs, but the eyries here are hard to see. Other sites known to have falcons this year are Devil’s Courthouse, Grandfather Mountain, White Rock, Hanging Rock and Hickory Nut Gorge. The status of these birds is uncertain at this time.

McGrath said NCNRC does not have resources for banding and monitoring the falcons in WNC. He believes there are probably more than the 10 known sites but without funding he said there is no way to search for others. He said he has heard reports of sightings from Roan Mountain this spring, but they have not been confirmed.

McGrath said the only funding he had this year was a small grant from the Access Fund, a not-for-profit national rock climbing organization. The funding is to help identify sites that have nesting falcons. McGrath said the funding from this source was not renewable and the future of the program was uncertain.

Although the peregrine has been removed from the federal Endangered Species List, it is still on the state list. There is much to be learned about the status of the peregrine in this state.

The Conservation And Reinvestment Act (CARA) torpedoed in Congress last year and reintroduced this year could provide needed funds for non-game projects like the Peregrine Project, but it is hard to muster confidence for this year’s chances.

McGrath, the Peregrine Project and my bird from Pickens Nose will likely be dependent once again on the generosity of private funding. Anyone with knowledge of funding sources that might be applicable are urged to call McGrath at 828.683.0671.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News