U.S. Seeks to Remove Peregrine Falcon From Endangered List

Copyright 1998 New York Times August 26, 1998

More than twice the number of peregrine falcons considered necessary for the recovery of the species are soaring over North America, leading the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service to announce a proposal today to remove the bird from the endangered species list.

From a low of 324 nesting pairs in 1975 -- five years after the falcon gained Federal protection and three years after the pesticide DDT was banned in the United States -- there are almost 1,600 pairs from the sub-Arctic forests of Alaska and Canada south to Mexico.

The director of the wildlife service, Jamie Rappaport Clark, made the announcement today at the Peregrine Fund World Center for Birds of Prey near Boise. Since 1974, the fund alone was responsible for more than 4,000 peregrines being released into the wild, and government and private experts have reintroduced more than 6,000.

The center incubates the eggs of rare birds of prey like the peregrine falcon, California condor and aplomado falcon, and then releases them to the wild.

Since the American alligator was the first species to be removed from the endangered species list, in the late 1970's, only six other species have recovered enough to be taken off the list. Fourteen other species were removed after they either disappeared or new information was uncovered indicating that they never should have been on the list.

A 90-day comment period on the proposal to remove the peregrine falcon from the list will end on Nov. 23, and the final decision will come within a year. But the bird would still be protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits the killing, possession, transportation and importation of migratory birds, their eggs, parts and nests unless authorized by the Interior Department.

There were only 39 known pairs of peregrine falcons in the lower 48 states when they were listed in 1970 under what then was the Endangered Species Conservation Act, predecessor of the 1973 law. The overall recovery goal was 631 pairs.

It would be the first time that a species was removed from the list since 1994, when the gray whale and Arctic peregrine falcon were taken off.

The peregrine falcon, once known as a "duck hawk" and shot indiscriminately as a nuisance predator across the West, is the world's fastest bird. Scientists finally realized that pesticide contamination in the food chain was ravaging the falcons, causing thin eggshells that would collapse.

Peregrines remain aloft for hours, then swoop in at up to 200 miles an hour snatch small birds or bats with their talons.

The Government's proposal to take the peregrine off the endangered species list follows a promise in May by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to give greater priority to removing species from the list.

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