![]() Peregrine falcon breeding status in Big Bend National Park. WNBGBK-STATE and OES, USFWS, Albuquerque, NM. Technical report, non-game and urban wildlife program, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin. Black Gap Wildlife Management Area Peregrine Falcon 1994 field season survey. Texas A&M University Press, College Station. Text by Bonnie Reynolds McKinney (Updated 2005) With only 2 young fledged from 18 monitored sites in 1995 the population is not producing enough young to offset natural mortality. Recruitment rate is very slow, sometimes taking years to replace lost mates. Reproductive failure is a common occurrence with reproductive rates showing sharp declines in 19. The status of the Peregrine Falcon in Texas is poor and declining. TBBAP surveys (1987-1992) show an increase in peregrine eyrie numbers in the Big Bend region since the 1970s but the Davis Mountain eyries remain empty and there is only one pair of peregrines in the Guadalupe Mountains (BRM 1994-95). anatum) as a very local summer resident with breeding confirmed in the Guadalupe and Chisos mountains and the cliffs along the Rio Grande in southern Brewster County north to Presidio County (Lockwood and Freeman 2002). STATUS. Lockwood and Freeman (2002) describe Peregrine Falcon (F. Reproductive success of a pair is counted only after the young have actually flown from the scrape (McKinney 1994). Incubation lasts 28 to 32 days chicks grow rapidly and fledge around 38 to 44 days. are laid one every other day they are smooth or finely grained, creamy white or whitish pink that is nearly concealed by bright reddish brown spots and blotches (Harrison, 1979). The four eggs (range 3-5), about the size of a chicken egg. As egg laying approaches the female becomes lethargic and sits quietly for long periods of time. Peregrines do not build a nest but occasionally will use an old stick nest formerly occupied by a raven or another hawk (Ratcliffe 1980). The male Peregrine Falcon chooses the nest site or “scrape”, a hollowed out depression he makes in substrate in a hole or overhang on a cliff face. macroura) doves with songbirds making up the balance. Preferred prey in western Texas consists of White-winged (Zenaida asiatica) and Mourning (Z. They are avian predators and take their prey in the air. The breeding population in Texas is located in the remote wild canyons of the Rio Grande up into pine-oak woodlands in the Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains national parks. Peregrine Falcons prefer to nest on very tall sheer cliff faces with a commanding view, a nearby water source and a good prey base. Tundrius is a locally uncommon winter resident in the Coastal Prairie especially near bays and estuaries and rare to very rare winter resident, primarily in urban areas, inland to north-central Texas.(Lockwood and Freeman 2004).īREEDING HABITAT. Fall migrants may be seen as early as mid-July and spring migrants may linger as late as early May. p anatum and/or tundrius) are seen throughout the state. Peregrines at higher elevations tend to nest a bit earlier than birds at lower elevations (McKinney 1987). Egg laying may occur in March or April and fledging of young usually takes place mid-May to mid-July. ![]() In the Trans-Pecos area of Texas the Peregrine Falcon has a relatively long breeding season beginning in February with courtship. The one possible record in 31100 may be a transient bird. In Texas TBBAP atlasers found resident populations of anatum in the rugged mountains of the Trans-Pecos and canyons of the Rio Grande with 3 confirmed breeding records each in latilongs 2913 and 4 confirmed breeding records and 1 probable in 31104. pealei found from Washington north through western Alaska (White et al., 2002). anatum North America south of the tundra to north Mexico except Pacific Northwest and F. tundrius found in the Arctic tundra of North America and Greenland F. ![]() ![]() There are three subspecies of Peregrine Falcon within North America: F. anatum was delisted in 1999 (White et al. The Peregrine Falcon was listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as endangered in the Federal Register on 13 October 1970 and in the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Through the reintroduction of captive-bred birds peregrines are now reestablished in much of their former range (USFWS, 1993). The impact of organochlorine pesticides was most profound in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada where where the peregrine was virtually eliminated from the wild. Research indicated that DDT and other organochlorine pesticides were causing Peregrine Falcons to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke during normal incubation. Populations suffered a dramatic decline when the use of DDT became widespread after World War II. The Peregrine Falcon once ranged throughout much of North America, from the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada south to Mexico.
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