Bringing peregrines back to the Midwest has been a labor of cooperation, dedication, and passion to restore a species nearly erased from existence. Academic and private groups joined with government agencies, including state wildlife agencies and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to develop recovery strategies to stop the precipitous decline of the peregrine and begin rebuilding its populations. Among those strategies were elimination of DDT in the environment and reintroduction of peregrines back into the wild, which,in some cases, included large urban areas such as Chicago, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis.
Midwestern peregrine numbers have rebounded from zero in the 1970s to the following count of breeding pairs in 1997:
Illinois 6
Indiana 8
Iowa 2
Michigan 8
Minnesota 22
Missouri 3
Ohio 11
Wisconsin 12
Minnesotas Raptor Center Sets Stage for Peregrine Recovery
Among the most noted facilitators of peregrine recovery in the upper Midwest has been The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. The program, located at the Gabbert Raptor Center facility on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, is dedicated to the conservation of birds of prey through research, rehabilitation, and education. From 1981 through 1994, the center facilitated the reintroduction of 700 peregrine falcons in upper Midwestern states, boosting recovery efforts throughout the region.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, The Raptor Center served as a peregrine clearing house and brokerage, matching available young peregrines with state wildlife agencies trying to bolster peregrine populations through reintroductions. As the reintroduction program gained success, the center became the regions leading facility in training biologists in reintroduction techniques, monitoring of nesting, banding young birds, and gathering information on peregrines in the wild. The center is also among the nations top facilities for treatment of injured birds of prey, and is a pioneer in training personnel in raptor rehabilitation.
Dr. Patrick Redig, co-founder and current director of the Center, noted that the comeback of the peregrine has been a remarkable success story. When we began reintroducing birds in 1981, I never imagined wed have this much success in so short a time, he said. It is an accomplishment not only of The Raptor Center and state and Federal agencies, but of those citizens who have provided funding and support for peregrine and raptor conservation over the years. We can all be proud of this achievement.
The Raptor Center continues to be the leading clearinghouse for data on peregrine falcon populations in and around the Great Lakes. Redig and colleague Bud Tordoff of the Bell Museum of Natural History, also at the University of Minnesota, have established an extensive data record that allows them to track the genetic make-up of nearly all the peregrines in the Midwest. This information is especially useful in monitoring the success of reintroduction efforts and the ongoing status of the peregrine.
Indianas Peregrine Program - A State Success Story
The work of The Raptor Center can be seen in the rebounding peregrine populations throughout the Midwest. Indiana, like all eastern states, had lost all of its peregrines to effects of DDT and other threats. Beginning in 1991, Indiana launched an effort to establish nesting pairs in the Hoosier state through reintroduction. Working with The Raptor Center and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and funded by citizen contributions through the states non-game tax checkoff program, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources introduced peregrines in four cities, hoping that in time, peregrines would re-establish themselves in Indiana.
Through 1994, a total of 60 young peregrines were hacked or released atop buildings in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Evansville. As young birds fledged, the hope was that
some would return someday to nest and raise young. These reintroductions have paid dividends: in 1995, three nesting pairs were counted and the number has climbed to eight in 1998.
Like other reintroduction programs, many of our birds are dispersing to other states, and birds from other programs are locating in Indiana. Its the way it works, said John Castrale, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources biologist who oversees Indianas peregrine recovery effort. Were pleased that this effort, supported by Hoosiers who care about wildlife, is making a difference with the nationwide recovery of the peregrine falcon.
Indianas success is typical of efforts in other Midwestern states. For more information on peregrine falcons in the Midwest, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services home page at http://www.fws.gov"> or contact Georgia Parham, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 812-334-4261 x 203.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
