Peregrine falcons return to Pukaskwa National Park
Seeing Peregrine Falcons in Pukaskwa National Park used to be quite the rarity, but now, the birds are returning to the park, and researchers are taking time to collect data on them.
The population has been recovering since the late 90s. Before that time there were no sightings of peregrine falcons in the park, south of Marathon.
No peregrine falcons in park before 1998
Park ecologist, Christine Drake says she suspects the resurgence was due to hacking release.
Hacking is when a young falcon is put in a hack box which contains a nest inside. The box is open after they have been in there for about five to ten days. The young start to fly further away for a longer span.
Drake says those birds that were hacked in the late 90s and early into the 2000s started to naturally breed. The birds in the park now are their offspring.
Drake says the ecological program in Pukaskwa has been monitoring the peregrine falcon population since 2000.
She calls the population of the peregrine falcon "healthy", with five active territories monitored by the researchers in the park.
The peregrine falcon is a top predator and helps regulate population levels of other species. Peregrines like to feed on the colonial water birds or the herring gull in the park.
Banding peregrine falcon chicks
Drake and fellow researchers have been working to band the chicks as part of Project Peregrine. That's a partnership initiative out of Thunder Bay.
She says banding is meant to give researchers more information on the birds. This includes the health of each bird, including their weight. Researchers are also able to take blood and toxicology samples. Drake says this allows ecologists to find and address any upcoming concerns.
The process to band peregrine falcon chicks takes about ten minutes. It starts with a climbing expert accessing the nest from the top of a cliff. They descend down on to the ledge where the nest is.
The climber puts the chicks into a basket and raises it to the top of the cliff. There are waiting researchers at the top who take measurements and put bands on each leg of the baby bird.
The chicks are then lowered back down and returned to the nest.
Drake says while the baby chicks are away from the nest the mother bird usually isn't happy.
"The climber who is standing on the ledge is constantly dive bombed " Drake says. "His helmet serves dual purpose for rock climbing, as well as peregrine protection."
With files from Up North