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Harrisburg's Peregrine Falcons to Be Banded During Live Internet Webcast

Posted on: Friday, 22 May 2009, 15:58 CDT

Viewers Invited to Watch Wednesday, May 27

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Game Commission will conduct a live Webcast of the annual peregrine falcon banding on Wednesday, May 27. The birds live on a ledge of the Rachel Carson Building, where DEP is headquartered.

To view the Webcast, scheduled for 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., visit www.depweb.state.pa.us and click on the falcon icon.

"Peregrine falcons have called Harrisburg home since 1997," DEP Secretary John Hanger said. "The Web cam and live Webcasts allow children and adults to learn about this endangered species and how important it is to protect them and their nests as well as other wildlife and habitats."

Before the Webcast begins, a Pennsylvania Game Commission biologist will retrieve four of the five young falcons from their nest. The biologist will band one of the young birds while on the ledge and leave it there to minimize upsetting the adult peregrines. The other four young falcons will be taken to the Rachel Carson Building's auditorium and banded as part of the live Internet lesson. The banding will be conducted by Dr. Art McMorris, Pennsylvania Game Commission peregrine falcon coordinator; Scott Bills, Pennsylvania Game Commission land manager; and DEP Director of Environmental Education Jack Farster.

While explaining the process, McMorris will place an alphanumeric metal leg band around each of the young falcon's legs. Banding is an inexpensive way for wildlife officials to monitor and track the progress of the birds once they leave the nest. The falcons also will be weighed and examined by Game Commission staff.

Approximately 185 elementary, middle and high school students and teachers from central Pennsylvania schools will attend the banding. Teachers who attended an in-service workshop about endangered species were invited to bring their students to the live banding.

Peregrines remain an endangered species in Pennsylvania, but the state's peregrine falcon population has been climbing since the early 1990s. The increase is a direct result of peregrine re-introduction efforts, such as the one on the Rachel Carson State Office Building.

"Today, there are roughly 23 pairs of nesting peregrine falcons in Pennsylvania," said McMorris, noting that records indicate that peregrines once nested at 44 sites in 21 counties in Pennsylvania. "There were about 350 nesting pairs that populated the Eastern United States in the early 1900s."

The Game Commission and the Peregrine Fund participated in the state's first successful peregrine re-introduction in 1981 when four young peregrines were "hacked" - acclimated to an enclosure and eventually released - on a ledge of the Philadelphia National Bank. Peregrines began returning to nest in Pennsylvania in 1987, and officials have confirmed that several falcon pairs have returned to their natural nesting sites on cliffs in at least three areas of the state.

The peregrine falcon was listed as endangered in Pennsylvania in 1984. Records indicate the bird did not nest in Pennsylvania from about 1959 to 1987. The peregrines' native breeding population in the eastern United States was wiped out by the mid-1960s, primarily because of DDT, a pesticide that was banned by the federal government in 1972.

For more information on Peregrine falcons in Pennsylvania, including a timeline of the falcons that have nested on the Rachel Carson State Office Building in Harrisburg from 1997 to present, or to view the live Webcast, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us, DEP keyword: "Falcon."

For more information about the peregrine falcon, visit the Game Commission's Web site at www.pgc.state.pa.us, choose "Wildlife" in the left column and then click on the photo of the peregrine falcon.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Source: PR Newswire

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