Document DvErJkO5yGynDN2gOq4RMrDG4

'X. pc(? -fit h dCto NATIONAL OBSERVER December 9, 1972 Ornithologist White: 'No creature is safe, not even in the re motest spgt<\..' FROM THE DESK OF: E. V. John w. R. Corey - B2SL w. B. Papageorge - B2NA H. S. Bergen - B2SL E. P. Wheeler - A2SA J. F. Stapleton - B2SA K. W. Easley - 1920 P, J. A. Marsh - 5040 AOhS 070940 < Researchers' Aim: RepopuH'lcn /i Can the Peregrine Fa1 ^on Return? The most perfect flylnp machine. the best-constructed bird, the fiercest Research tas shown that DDT, DDE,' the PCBs, ar.. other chlorinated hydroear- ; (get, to Us trainer. the most gentle), anti the fastest bird--oH of these su perlatives have been claimed for the pereorine falcon. --llocui Tour P:*krson \ In Birds Over America. I By Nelson Wadsworth . bon pesticides upset the calcium balance In the female l rd`s blood supply, causing her to lay eggt with thinner shells. Sueh eggs easily bret.c under the weight at the brooding parents Peregrine falcons have laid clutches of *)ggs, but not enough young have been i atched to perpetuate the species. In 1947 .here were 300 known I FROM PROVO. UTAH nest sites or the peregrine L> the Eastern i You can't hear his ominous, rasping i "cack-cack-cack" anymore above cilffslde eyries along the New England Coau. The states. Today there Is none, n Utah there were 40 known sites. Today there Is none. An Aerial Ram old nest atop the Si. Regis Hotel In New York City Is abandoned. Travelers In northeastern Louisiana are no longer treated to his highflying antics. He is gone from the Rocky Mountains. His nests ire empty in the Pacific Northwest. And no one may ever see again one of his nests precariously perched on a discarded bar* ret In marshes near San Francisco Bay. The peregrine--or "duck hawk," as It Is known in the United States--Is an ex tremely efficient hunter, s factor that has led to Its downfall, it takes Us prey on the wing with high-flying acrobatics and seemingly Jetlike speed. White estimates that the vertical dive of the peregrine at tacking another bird reaches speeds In ex cess of 200 m.p.h. Unique nostril tubers*. The majestic peregrine falcon, called clcs baffle the sir during the dive to per the "prince ol the world's predators." Is mit breathing at high speed. Impact kills i nearly extinct In the United states--appar-. 31, 1972, but White and his colleagues ently the victim of pesticides--and Is an < maintain that production of the chemical endangered species everywhere In the continues without restraint for expert the prey Instantly, and it fella to earth. The falcon then returns to pluck and de vour its quarry on the spot. i world. But It may not yet be time for mourning. Four pairs or peregrines now overseas. Some 23 million pounds of DDT are shipped every year from U.S. produc "I have seen these beautiful falcons to the Aleutian islands skimming a few feet Inhabiting specially built eyries on the roof of (he Brigham Young University to* ers to buyers abroad. "The EPA ban does not affect these overseas sales, and DDi over the ocean waves Uke an Incoming for mation of dive bombers," says While. i ology building here, like peregrines being continues to be s threat, particularly bn "Small aukleu feeding on the surface of raised in a few other places, may tave the Latin America," White argues. "Mora species and re-establish it in former. tory birds do not know International the water scatter In all directions, but the peregrines grab them right out of the sir. haunts. ' , boundaries." * and eat them In flight" t Dr. Clayton M. White, 30, an ornltholo- gist at the university, and a handful of his colleagues sround the world are attempt* tng to breed peregrines In captivity and create a reservoir of the birds. The plan Is bold because the breeding habits of the peregrine ire quite delicate and difficult to co-ordinate In captivity, and there Is still widespread use of persistent insecti Companies that use DDT to make pesti cide pro ducts have challenged the EPA ban in Federal court, contending that the decision "did not correctly, weigh the evi dence . on the benefits compared to the risks." "What scares me more than anything else is that there are some people who 'No Creature Is Safe' Other falconers and ornithologists to many lands also are attempting to rats* peregrines to add to Uie world's captive reservoir. White says he la confident hatchable eggs will be produced next spring, but he adds that the Mg problem ' will be to get the male and female to tyn- cides. look at DDT as an 'elther-or' proposition." chronlze their complicated sex cycles. says White. "They say the benefits to man Only a few peregrines have been raised to No Place to Hide outweigh Its damaging effects to the bird captivity, though White believes he can The threatened disappearance of the populations. What they don't realize Is overcome the difficulties and raise them peregrine is regarded by many as an eco that man, too, stands at the top of a food on a large scale. His confidence is based logical tragedy. Ornithologists contend that chain, and he could be next. What is bad on years of study of the bird In the United Indiscriminate uses of Insecticides such as for the peregrine falcon Is also bed for States and elsewhere. He spenda much i DDT and other persistent chemicals since man." Whether DDT Is harmful to hu time on the Alaskan tundra working IMS have eliminated the bird irpm every mans isn't established, however. closely with peregrines. His work has been where In the United States except Alaska, and threaten lta existence in nearly all How Falcons Suffer financed by the Atomic Energy Commis sion. the National Science Foundation, and other environments around the globe. It is argued by some that DDT and its the Arctic Institute of North America. i j < "Our goal la to establish a captive pere. grlne population to supply birds for re search--so they won't have to be taken ; from the wild--and. In the long range, to ' reintroduce them Into the environment," White explains, "it would be senseless to try to build up the native populations until the DDT problem hes been resolved once and for all and the environment made breakdown product, dichloroethylene (DDE), as.well as polychlorinated biphen Although the peregrine falcon In the yls fPCBs) used in manufacturing plastics Aleutians appears to be surviving, says and resins, are wiping out whole species of White, he note* that in wildlife research bird populations, particularly those whose near Amchttka In 1971. "We found star- food chains are Involved with Insecticide tllngly high levels of PCBs In the per*- and PCB-contamlnalcd birds, fish, and Vgrines. proving that no creature Is safe, various animals. not even in the remotest spot to all the "The peregrine falcon relics heavily on wdrjg/1 | clean again." smaller migratory birds for his diet." says \ Insecticides SUU Threaten . White. "Many of these smaller birds pick 'up high levels of DDT as they travel i The Environmental Protection Agency through areas where man has been spray i (EPA) has issued an order curtailing the , Ing. The persistent nature of such cheml' use of DDT In the United States after Dec. cals allows it to concentrate In creatures at the lop of the food chain." . HONS 070941 NATIONAL OBSERVER December 9, 1972