Peregrine falcons return to Pukaskwa National Park

Up North6:56Peregrine falcons return to Pukaskwa National Park

Seeing peregrine falcons in Pukaskwa National Park used to be quite the rarity. Now, the birds are returning to the park and so are researchers like Christine Drake.

Seeing Peregrine Falcons in Pukaskwa National Park used to be quite the rarity, but now, the birds are returning to the park, and researchers are taking time to collect data on them.

The population has been recovering since the late 90s. Before that time there were no sightings ofperegrine falcons in the park, south of Marathon.

No peregrine falcons in park before 1998

Park ecologist, Christine Drakesays she suspects the resurgencewas due tohacking release.

Hacking is when ayoung falcon isput in a hack box whichcontains a nest inside.The box is open after they have been in there for about fiveto tendays. The young start to fly further away for a longer span.

Drake says those birds that were hacked in the late 90s and early into the 2000sstarted to naturally breed. The birds in the park now are their offspring.

Drake says the ecological program in Pukaskwahas beenmonitoring the peregrine falcon population since 2000.

She callsthe population of theperegrinefalcon "healthy",with five active territories monitored by theresearchersin the park.

The peregrine falcon isa top predator and helps regulate population levels of other species. Peregrines like to feed on the colonial water birds or the herring gullin the park.

Banding peregrine falcon chicks

Drake and fellow researchers have been working to bandthe chicks as part of Project Peregrine.That's a partnershipinitiative out ofThunder Bay.

She says banding is meant togive researchersmore information onthe birds.This includes thehealth of eachbird, including theirweight. Researchers are also able to takeblood and toxicology samples. Drake says this allows ecologists to find and addressany upcoming concerns.

The process to band peregrine falcon chickstakes about ten minutes. It starts with aclimbing expertaccessing thenest from the top of a cliff. They descend down on to the ledge where the nest is.

The climber puts the chicks into a basket andraisesit to the top of the cliff. There are waiting researchers at the top who take measurements and put bands on each leg of the baby bird.

The chicks are then lowered back down and returned to the nest.

Drake says while the baby chicks are away from the nest the motherbird usually isn'thappy.

"The climber who is standing on the ledge is constantly dive bombed" Drake says."His helmet serves dual purpose for rock climbing, as well as peregrine protection."