Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 28, 1994 TAG: 9404280213
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LINDA MCNATT LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
The peregrine falcon, hatched in a breeding program in Oklahoma, proved that when she was released in Roanoke in the summer of 1992.
Amelia managed to fall down a 12-story drain spout, get tangled in an awning and soak her feathers in a pool of oil, all in the space of about four months.
But wildlife experts decided to give the rare bird one more chance. They released her Tuesday at the Cargill Inc. grain elevator near the south end of the Norfolk Naval Base.
``This is a site adult falcons come to,'' said licensed falconer Shawn Padgett of Norfolk, who selected the release site. ``When they load ships and barges from these elevators, a lot of grain drops. That attracts pigeons.''
And pigeons attract falcons.
With just a little urging from Padgett, Amelia hopped out of her box Tuesday and onto a pigeon he offered her for lunch.
Instinctively, she cracked the bird's neck with a special notch on her beak and started plucking feathers.
When Padgett cut the strap from her leg, banded with a special number to indicate her heritage, Amelia soared into the air.
``I think she's flying fairly well, considering she's been in captivity a year and a half,'' said Mitchell Byrd, a research professor at the College of William and Mary.
The 2-year-old falcon was about 6 months old when she was released in Roanoke.
Even then, Byrd thought Amelia might have problems.
``That first time, it took her six to eight hours to walk out of the box,'' Byrd said.
Amelia was one of six peregrine falcons purchased by Roanoke and a group of private citizens interested in repopulating the state with the birds, which have been extinct in the wild in the United States since the late 1960s.
Wildlife officials began releasing the falcons in Virginia in 1978, first on the coast, then in the mountains.
They know of 15 pairs in the state now, 13 of them on the coast.
There are about 75 wild pairs nationwide.
Peregrine falcons in the eastern United States once inhabited the Allegheny Mountains from Maine to Georgia, Byrd said. But DDT and other pesticides wiped them out.
The mortality rate in the wild is 50 percent in the first year and 20 percent the second year, Byrd said. The bird's normal life span is 12 to 15 years.
After her problems in Roanoke, Amelia spent time at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Weyers Cave, then with a falconer in northern Virginia.
About two weeks ago, Padgett moved the falcon to his back yard.
He released Amelia here so that he could watch her. A radio transmitter attached to the falcon's back allows him to track her for up to six miles. The battery is expected to last about 12 days.
``I think her main concern now is just to live,'' Padgett said as he gazed at Amelia perched high on a utility pole. ``She just needs to get through these first few critical days.
``I'll skip a day and then, when I come back on the third day, I can tell if she's been eating,'' he said. ``We'll give her two weeks, see how she does.''
If things don't work out, it's back to the wildlife center for good as part of an educational program there.
``What I hope,'' said Ed Clark, wildlife center president, ``is that, whatever she does, she stays the heck out of trouble.''
by CNB