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By Bonnie S. Lawrence

Picture of Falcon

High in the summer sky, a torpedo-shaped hunter beats the air with long pointed wings, then tilts downward, and goes into the most spectacular dive a bird can make. Wind moves over the feathers as the bird gains speed pursuing a fleeing pigeon. Wings half-folded, it drops with an attack speed that can reach 200 miles (320 kilometers) an hour. The bird strikes its prey in mid-flight, killing it with the impact from its outstretched talons. The peregrine falcon has returned to the coast of Maine.

For centuries the peregrine falcon ruled the air near the top of the food chain. Nest-robbing, trapping, and shooting contributed to a decline in numbers, but the real threat came with the wide-spread use of pesticides. Chemicals such as DDT worked their way up the chain to predatory birds; these birds of prey ingested pesticides with their kill and built up high levels of chemicals in their bodies. Eggs failed to hatch or the thin shells broke under the weight of the parent’s bodies. A survey in 1964 failed to find a single peregrine falcon nest east of the Rockies. In 1970 the bird was declared an endangered species.

In 1984 park officials at Acadia joined in the effort to restore this bird to the wild. Scientists bred adult birds in captivity; their eggs were hatched in the laboratory. Chicks three to four weeks old were placed in artificial rearing nests called hack sites, mounted along a cliff. Bars across the front of the box allowed the falcons to see out and protected them from predators. The fledglings were fed through a long, sloping tube to prevent their associating food with humans. When the wings were mature and strong enough for flight, the birds were released into the wild. In 1986, 22 peregrine falcons were successfully hatched on a cliff face overlooking Acadia’s Jordan Pond. Adult peregrine falcons began returning to the park and 1991 marked the first successful nesting in 35 years. Three chicks were sighted. Every year since, a pair have returned, raising three or four chicks. In 1995 a second pair of peregrine falcons also raised a chick.

Each year early in spring, park scientists search for signs of the peregrine falcons’ return. Hiking trails around the nest sites may be closed to visitors to protect the young birds. Officials hope that the peregrine falcons will continue to return home to raise their young in Acadia National Park.
 
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