THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 6, 1995 TAG: 9511060089
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
Virginia bird experts are protesting an effort to drop the peregrine falcon from the national endangered species list, saying the bird has not yet recovered in the Chesapeake Bay region from years of pesticide contamination.
They also charge the federal government with playing politics with the falcon, contending that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to placate Republican leaders in Congress who want to relax the Endangered Species Act.
``They just want to say, `Hey look, we've got another one off the list.' They're looking for another success story to tell Congress,'' said Mitchell A. Byrd, a research professor at the College of William and Mary. ``This move is based on a whole lot of politics and not much biology.''
The wildlife service counters that the falcon - known for its handsome white breast and spectacular mid-air attacks on prey - has returned in sufficient numbers across North America to warrant a lifting of federal protection.
Like the bald eagle, peregrines fell victim in the 1960s to DDT, a highly toxic pesticide that thins egg shells, making it difficult if not impossible for new broods to hatch. The pesticide was banned in 1972. Since then, populations of birds and raptors that once ingested the chemical have been steadily increasing.
``I can understand where those concerns (about politics) would come from,'' said Susan Lawrence, an endangered-species specialist with the wildlife service in Washington. ``But the decision we make in the end will be made on biological factors and nothing else.''
The service published its notice of intent to withdraw the falcon as an endangered species this summer. The bird was listed as endangered in 1970. Lawrence said colleagues now are drafting a formal ruling, which should be released soon.
This year in Virginia, there were 17 pairs of nesting falcons, Byrd said. Most roosted atop manmade towers on the Eastern Shore and under bridges in Hampton Roads.
It was the largest number of mating pairs in Virginia since scientists started rebuilding the state population from zero in the mid-1970s, federal wildlife officials and local researchers report.
But only seven pairs successfully mated this spring, illustrating what Byrd describes as a consistent trend over the years of weak reproduction that ``hardly lends itself to any booming recovery.''
``Clearly we're making progress,'' said Shawn Padgett, a local falconer who helps Byrd monitor peregrines statewide. ``But I don't consider what we're seeing out there to be a steady, considerable population by any measurement.''
Peregrines historically have lived in cliffs and mountainous areas. From there, they can easily scout for prey and swoop down on small birds, often at speeds up to 200 mph.
The falcon rolls up like a bowling ball, then collides with its victim in mid-air. After stunning its prey, the falcon sinks its sharp talons into a bird, finishing the job.
Virginia suffered a symbolic loss this spring when the oldest known breeding falcon in the state, a 17-year-old male, was found dead on the James River, Padgett said.
The bird had been nesting for years in the mast of an old cargo ship that is part of the Reserve Fleet on the lower James. Because of the nest, the ship has not been allowed to move for years, said Paul Smith, superintendent of the fleet.
Named Marine Fiddler, the ship is owned by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The falcons nested there again this year, but produced no young.
The male died before the eggs hatched; he was killed while chasing a pigeon, Padgett believes. Without a mate to stand guard and collect food, the female fled the nest and left the eggs, Smith added.
Padgett is worried that if the falcons are no longer protected under the Endangered Species Act, the ship will leave and Virginia will lose a nest site. Smith said he knew of no plans to move the ship, even if federal protections were lifted.
A pair that usually nests under the Coleman Bridge spanning the York River did not mate this year because of construction, Padgett said. Scientists are hopeful, however, that the falcons will return once renovations are complete.
Nests on the Eastern Shore are under a different kind of pressure. Horned owls are apparently taking up residence in some of the six towers built in remote marshes and on barrier islands, creating a turf war with the falcons, Byrd said.
He also said that falcon eggs are showing increasing signs of DDT, 23 years after the pesticide was banned in the United States. His explanation: Falcons are ingesting the chemical by eating shore birds that migrate to South America, where DDT remains legal.
Padgett and Byrd lumped those concerns into letters of protest to the government in hope of keeping falcons a protected species.
Byrd said that, at a minimum, he hopes the government reclassifies the falcon as ``threatened'' instead of ``endangered'' throughout its East Coast range, from Maine to Georgia.
Such a change would provide the bird some government protection, although not as much as it currently enjoys.
But in recommending the falcon be dropped altogether from the endangered species list, the wildlife service recognizes that the East Coast population has not met certain targets under its recovery strategy.
Still, the service said positive population trends in recent years will not reverse themselves if the bird loses its endangered status.
``Overall, in excess of 150 pairs have established nesting territories (on the East Coast),'' the service wrote in its notice, ``and recovery targets of 175-200 pairs will likely be reached by 1996 or 1997.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
RECOVERING
The following is a list of known pairs of peregrine falcons that
actively nested in Virginia each year:
from 1972 to 1981, 0 pairs; 1982, 1 active nesting pair; 1983, 1
active nesting pair; 1984, 2 pairs; 1985, 2 pairs; 1986, 4 pairs;
1987, 5 pairs; 1988, 5 pairs; 1989, 6 pairs; 1990, 6 pairs; 1991, 6
pairs; 1992, 8 pairs; 1993, 9 pairs; 1994, 13 pairs; 1995, 17
pairs.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
FILE PHOTO
A couple of peregrine falcon fledglings squawk in a nest on the
Elizabeth River.
by CNB