Birds of prey protections helping species recover in P.E.I., experts say

The population of raptors across P.E.I. is slowly climbing thanks to recent efforts to protect the province's birds of prey, wildlife experts say.

Over the last few decades, the number of hawks, falcons and eagles in P.E.I. has dwindled due to increased urban settlement destroying the wooded areas the birds live in, officials with the province say.

All raptor species that can be found on the Island fall under the protection of the Wildlife Conservation Act. That includes birds like the peregrine falcon, the bald eagle and the northern goshawk — the species that likely attacked two cyclists biking along the Confederation Trail earlier this week.

"We've spent the last 40 years trying to bring these birds back from the brink of extinction, and the reason we may have more interactions with them today is there are more of them today," said Peter McMurchy, owner of Island Falconry.

"Through different laws, through different actions, we've tried to better how we interact with wildlife and how we protect our birds of prey."

Those efforts include breeding and releasing peregrine falcons into the wild, McMurchy said, as well as regulations on things like the types of ammunition that can be used for duck hunting and restrictions on the use of lead shotgun pellets for hunters.

Bald eagles and scavenger birds can be poisoned by eating carcasses tainted by lead.

McMurchy said Island Falconry has worked with zoos and watershed groups to work on conservation efforts that have helped bring falcon populations back up.

"All these different groups, … we've worked at raising the profile of these birds so that people recognize them and protecting their wildlife habitats as much as possible," he said.

Goshawks still a 'priority species'

Matt Sheidow is wildlife technician with Forests, Fish and Wildlife P.E.I. He said northern goshawks are an important species to the local ecosystem, making their protection crucial.

"They're a very interesting bird. They're something that's important ecologically," he said.

"There's a lot of efforts going on in terms of ecologically minded forestry practices that have been taken on, [and] just habitat protection in general." 

Sheidow said Islanders should be aware of their surroundings while they're in wooded areas. If a hawk is circling low, landing in nearby trees or calling out, he said it's best to leave as to avoid any conflict with the birds.