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Don Eckelberry
For artist info, see Kestrels.
The Prairie Falcon (shown here in black-and-white) is smaller, more slender and more maneuverable in flight than the Peregrine Falcon, but less adapt as a hunter, specializing on prey usually caught near the ground.
The Peregrine Falcon, known for its dramatic stoops, served as an icon for the hazards of DDT and other environmental pollutants as declines from eggshell thinning led to classifying the bird as "Endangered" in 1970. By 1975 the North American population was reduced to 159 known nesting pairs. After 29 years of federal protection and ceaseless efforts of the Peregrine Fund, the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center and the University of California's Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, the population grew to 1650 pairs by 1997 and was removed from the Endangered Species List in 1999. Monitoring continued for 13 years, determining the population status of at least two falcon generations.
Stanford Note: We don't expect to see the Prairie Falcon on campus, but it does happen. So rare is its presence, that sightings (date, place, time, activity) are especially welcome. It had long been rumored that Peregrine can be seen at Hoover Tower, but there were no confirmed records until 2011. |
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