Peregrine Falcons

The peregrine falcon, back from the brink of extinction, is ready to fly without federal protection, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said, proposing that it be removed from the endangered species list. Close to being wiped out by DDT pesticide use in the 1960s and 1970s, the world's fastest bird has recovered sufficiently to be declared out of danger, Babbitt said as he ceremoniously released a peregrine into the wild in Stone Mountain, Ga.

If you live in a large American city, you can probably drive a short distance to a skyscraper or bridge, spot a peregrine falcon nesting high above the ground and, if you stick around long enough, watch it dive down in pursuit of a pigeon at a speed of up to 200 miles per hour, capture the bird with its feet, kill it with a swift bite to the neck and devour the carcass in a nearby tree.

Brian Walton, a scientific researcher who helped lead efforts to restore the once-endangered peregrine falcon to West Coast habitats, has died. He was 55. Walton, the longtime coordinator of UC Santa Cruz's Predatory Bird Research Group, died June 15 at a Santa Cruz hospital of a stroke, the university announced. A diabetic, he had received pancreas and kidney transplants in 1994 and was awaiting a second kidney transplant, said Ron Walton, his brother.

California's peregrine falcons, once driven to the edge of extinction by the pesticide DDT, now are contaminated with record-high levels of other toxic chemicals that may threaten them again. State scientists have found that peregrines in Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco contain the highest levels of flame retardants found in any living organism worldwide.

They've been mating since 1988 in relative seclusion on a ledge of the California Federal Building, but this spring a pair of endangered peregrine falcons have company: 40 construction workers who are gutting and remodeling the 27-story skyscraper. The predatory birds live and hunt year-round off the ledge, nesting in a plastic, gravel-filled tub. But like humans, the lovers like their privacy.

As the sun broke through the morning fog in the western Shenandoah Valley, six down-covered peregrine falcons chirped, squawked and shrieked as they adjusted to their new man-made nest atop a 30-foot stone tower. Until last year, those sounds had not been heard in Virginia for more than four decades. "It sure makes you feel good to reintroduce a species," said Robert Glasgow, wildlife biologist with the George Washington National Forest, as he helped place the young birds in their new home.

The three men scramble across the steep hillside, clinging to clumps of coreopsis and bunch grass. The foaming sea crashes on the jagged black rocks more than a hundred feet below. As they near their destination--a tiny cave carved from the stern cliff face--a big-winged bird circles, swooping down and screaming a shrill warning cry: Caaaa, caaaaa, caaaaa. The bird is a peregrine falcon. The men, rangers and biologists from Channel Islands National Park, are hiking to her nest.

Early this year a Montana forest ranger found an ailing bald eagle by the side of a road and took it to Jeff McPartlin, who was known for rehabilitating raptors--birds of prey. The eagle had ingested some poison, but McPartlin nursed it and two weeks later released it at the headquarters of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks along the Missouri River near Great Falls. Margaret Adams, an Audubon Society official, said she once took an injured great horned owl to McPartlin.

Quick now, where's the best wildlife show in California? Riding boats off the coast to watch the California gray whale migration? Watching wintertime arrivals of hundreds of thousands of waterfowl to the huge federal refuges on the California-Oregon line? How about watching pronghorn antelopes race across the flatlands of Modoc County? All good, no doubt about it. But, believe it or not, the best California wildlife show may very well be in downtown Los Angeles.

California's peregrine falcons, once driven to the edge of extinction by the pesticide DDT, now are contaminated with record-high levels of other toxic chemicals that may threaten them again. State scientists have found that peregrines in Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco contain the highest levels of flame retardants found in any living organism worldwide.

Brian Walton, a scientific researcher who helped lead efforts to restore the once-endangered peregrine falcon to West Coast habitats, has died. He was 55. Walton, the longtime coordinator of UC Santa Cruz's Predatory Bird Research Group, died June 15 at a Santa Cruz hospital of a stroke, the university announced. A diabetic, he had received pancreas and kidney transplants in 1994 and was awaiting a second kidney transplant, said Ron Walton, his brother.

For the first time in more than 50 years, biologists have discovered a pair of peregrine falcon chicks on Santa Barbara Island. The discovery was made April 20, when a biologist with the National Park Service climbed to the falcon nest hoping to retrieve an unhatched egg that would be used to make a contaminant analysis of the shell. Instead, he found the just-hatched chicks.

A peregrine falcon shrieked in vain Friday as scientists snatched three eggs from their precarious perch beneath the Bay Bridge in an attempt to save the chicks from a deadly fall or car collision when they hatch. "It's the most dangerous place in the world for them," said Brian Latta, a UC Santa Cruz biologist who removed the eggs from a narrow beam about 200 feet above San Francisco Bay.

Easing my hooded peregrine onto his perch in the back of the truck, I pretend I don't see the man approaching from the east. He is moving with an intent that makes my palms sweat, despite my focus on tying the falcon's leash, despite the cool morning air. I am on farmland without permission, and the man's brisk chin-up-shoulders-back walk tells me the reservoir from which my falcon had just caught a lesser scaup is his.

Two peregrine falcons that have attracted a fan base of downtown office workers will soon be drawing in even more nature lovers. The falcons, called George and Gracie, roost on a 33rd-floor ledge of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s San Francisco headquarters. Thanks to a $30,000 grant from PG&E and a webcam, the falcons can be seen online at www.scpbrg.com. The pair hatched two chicks last year, and Gracie laid new eggs on the ledge last week.

In deference to a pair of peregrine falcons, the long-awaited addition of decorative lights on the Vincent Thomas Bridge will wait until next summer so that the birds can mate and nest in peace. Supporters of the lights had hoped to see the outline of the region's largest suspension bridge glimmering with small blue lights by New Year's Eve. They believe the display will help transform the little-known bridge across Los Angeles Harbor into a citywide landmark.

In what biologists hailed as "a wonderful success story," the once-endangered American peregrine falcon that was decimated by DDT in the 1960s has made such a dramatic comeback that a 17-year-old captive breeding project is being ended. The birds, famous for their use in falconry and identified by their distinctive gray or black "helmet," were down to two known mating pairs in 1975.

For the first time in more than 50 years, biologists have discovered a pair of peregrine falcon chicks on Santa Barbara Island. The discovery was made April 20, when a biologist with the National Park Service climbed to the falcon nest hoping to retrieve an unhatched egg that would be used to make a contaminant analysis of the shell. Instead, he found the just-hatched chicks.

Born with a caul and pale-blue eyes, John Burch was always seen as different by his Native American family. He was just 3, he says, when his grandmothers led him up a steep trail to a summit thought to have great mystical power. In the lore of his people, it was called Lesamo, where the Falcon of ancient legend killed the serpent Teleekatapelta. Craggy and dome-shaped, and often shrouded in fog, the dominant landmark of the Central California beachfront is more widely known as Morro Rock.

The world's fastest animal, the peregrine falcon, will be removed from the endangered species list today, reflecting the success of a three-decade effort to repopulate the bird, which had been almost wiped out by the pesticide DDT. The number of nesting pairs of the mid-size raptor, which had shrunk to a low of 39 in 1975, has grown to 1,650, with 167 pairs in California. The peregrine falcon joins a growing list of birds whose status has been upgraded by the U.S.