Eyes on the skies

The winds of change are upon us as the 2012 Peregrine Falcon Reintroduction is in full swing.  Currently there are 16 young falcons atop the Black Hills Corps Building in downtown Rapid City.  Two separate releases have occurred in the last week.  The released birds are sporting red leg bands on one leg and silver bands on the other.  They are temporarily marked with wing paint to help biologists monitoring them, determine the more experienced flier.

This summer it is expected that twenty young falcons will be released in an effort to restore the Black Hills population.  Due to the high mortality rate in young raptors this number of released bird is critical to achieving a potential nesting pair. These highly migratory birds will disperse south this fall and overwinter until two years have elapsed and they reach sexual maturity. It is our hope to have a nesting pair return within the next few years.

Initially the new fliers are learning to navigate their vertical environment and this is not without peril.  Power lines, mirrored glass buildings, car collisions, poisoned pigeons, and trains can pose a hazard to inexperienced young fliers.  Since the first release one bird has died from collision injuries and two others have wing injuries but are recovering. 

Currently there are five free-flying peregrines over the skies of Rapid City where they are being tracked daily by biologists Janie Fink and Blake Schioberg. In the meantime, the remaining 10 birds can be viewed on our webcam and plans are to release another group this weekend.