Rare peregrine falcon released to wild

Gary Landers, Sisters area raptor rehabilitator, received a call recently from Steven George, wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in Bend, asking Landers to come to the office, as they had an injured raptor discovered floundering around a local golf course.

When Landers responded to the call he was amazed to see it was an injured juvenile peregrine falcon, one of the rarest of the raptors found in North America.

"This is the first time I've had the opportunity to really look at a peregrine falcon close up," Landers said, carefully placing a falconer's hood over the bird's head.

"The hood will help it to stay calm as I examine that damaged wing," he said, using his teeth to pull the straps tight on the back of the hood.

"It's a juvenile female," Landers said, holding the rare raptor and examining the falcon's plumage, while slowly feeling the wrist of the right wing. "That's not good..." he said as he gently felt the bones for the extent of the injury, "I not sure if she will make it back to the wild..."

As Landers conducted his inspection of the falcon's feathers, bones and muscle tone, he stopped as he felt the bird's back muscles and exclaimed, "Oh, it's no wonder these birds are capable of hitting over 200 miles an hour; they're built like a prize fighter, with powerful muscles that are like no other raptor I have held in my hands."

The peregrine falcon is the favored raptor of falconers worldwide - still used in this ancient sport by the rich and famous. In medieval times, only a king could use the peregrine falcon for hunting, while princes were allowed to use "lesser" falcons. Peasants weren't allowed to hunt with falcons at all, but flew the "pot hawk," the goshawk.

The magnificent peregrines (along with eagles, osprey and other raptors) were facing extinction in the '50s, '60s and '70s because of world-wide use of DDT. The chemical caused eggshell thinning, which brought about nest failures of catastrophic proportions.

The Peregrine Fund, a group of worldwide raptor aficionados based in the U.S., began a captive-breeding project that caught the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which then helped to begin a worldwide drive to eliminate the use of DDT and establish additional captive breeding programs to bring falcons and other raptors back from the edge of extinction.

There is a chance that the peregrine Landers was caring for may have come from an active nest near Bend. Reports keep coming in from people living just south of Drake Park in Bend who see adult peregrine falcons all summer, speeding up and down the Deschutes River, sometimes carrying dead waterfowl, as though going back to a nest. There also was an historic nest above Benham Falls, on the Deschutes River.

About a week ago Landers reported, "The peregrine's metacarpals are still pretty badly messed up, and I can see some bruising; but I think she will make it. I'm hoping so anyway..."

Last Saturday, Landers placed a USGS #7 bird band, number 987-75920, on the falcon's leg, and thanks to his TLC, and the medical talent of veterinarians at Broken Top Veterinary Clinic, the falcon was released to the wild.

For additional information about Wild Wings Raptor Rehabilitation of Central Oregon or to donate, visit http://www.wildwingsrehab.com