Grand Haven, Friday, May 31, 2002 -- Three
rare Peregrine falcon chicks were inspected and banded at the Grand
Haven Board of Light & Power's Sims Generating Station by Michigan
DNR wildlife specialists Friday morning. The chicks were the second
brood hatched to wild adult Peregrine falcons nesting in a specially-designed
wooden box attached to the power plant's stack, about 240 feet above
the ground. The adult Peregrine falcons have been using the nesting
box since the spring of 2000 and successfully raised their first
brood of three chicks in the nest last year.
This year's brood consists of two females and one male. All of them
are in excellent health, according to the DNR specialists. Based
upon their size, the young birds are expected to begin flying in
about two weeks.
Although Peregrine falcons were recently removed from the federal
endangered species list, they remain on the State of Michigan endangered
species list. Last year, there were just nine documented pair of
nesting Peregrine falcons in the state, according to the Michigan
DNR. The Peregrine falcons nesting at the BLP power plant are the
only confirmed nesting pair in the western half of Michigan's Lower
Peninsula.
In 2001, a bird watcher was able to identify the two adult Peregrine
falcons from their leg bands. The bands identified the origins and
age of both birds. According to information from the University
of Minnesota's Raptor Center, the male was banded as a fledgling
in 1998 at the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
He was named Don. The female was banded as a fledgling in 1999 at
the Pulliam Power Plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. She was named Kishenzi.
Peregrine falcons have brown or slate-gray backs and off-white breasts
with a wingspan of 36 to 44 inches. They are noted for their incredible
dives, called "stoops", and can reach speeds of 220 miles
per hour when diving to attack their prey. When diving, they are
the fastest animal on earth. Peregrine falcons eat other birds,
catching them in flight, and have a healthy appetite for pigeons.
Nesting falcons typically hatch two to three chicks per year. The
incubation period for the eggs is approximately 34 to 35 days and
it takes another five weeks before the newborn chicks will begin
to fly.
Peregrine falcons became an endangered species in the United States
due in part to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT. In the 1950s,
Peregrine falcons began to disappear from their natural habitat
throughout the United States. In the 1960s, scientists discovered
that DDT was interfering with the egg shell formation of Peregrines
and other meat-eating birds, causing most eggs to break during incubation.
In 1972, the use of DDT was banned for use in the United States.
Power plants first became involved with assisting the restoration
of Peregrine falcons to the Midwest in 1989, when a nesting box
was placed on the stack of an Xcel Energy power plant in Bayport,
Minnesota. Early success with this program prompted a number of
additional power plants to get involved with the Peregrine falcon
restoration effort. According to the University of Minnesota Raptor
Center, there were 16 pair of Peregrines nesting at utility sites
in the Midwest in 2000. In addition, according to the Wisconsin
Peregrine Society, 30% of Peregrines currently living in the Midwest
originated from utility nesting sites. The Grand Haven BLP site
is one of two utility sites in Michigan which currently have nesting
pairs of falcons. The other site is Detroit Edison's Monroe Power
Plant in Monroe, Michigan.
According to information on the DNR web site, most Peregrine falcons
mate for life and generally return to the same nesting site year
after year. Some Peregrine falcons migrate south during the winter;
however, the Peregrine falcons in Detroit remain year-round, as
did the Grand Haven pair during this winter of 2001.
BLP spokesperson Jonathan Hofman said, "We're very pleased
to be part of this important reintroduction of Peregrine falcons
to the State of Michigan. The Sims Generating Station with its 360
foot tall stack is clearly an ideal nesting location for these birds."
The BLP nesting box was placed on the Sims Generating Station stack
in 1995 in conjunction with a Peregrine falcon release project at
the Consumers Energy J. H. Campbell plant in Port Sheldon. That
project involved the purchase and release of five young Peregrine
falcons from the roof of that power plant. Those falcons remained
at the Port Sheldon site until fall but did not return the following
spring.
During the summer of 1995, a local raptor specialist contacted the
BLP and asked the community-owned utility to place a nesting box
on the Sims Generating Station stack to provide additional nesting
options for the Peregrines. The wooden nesting box is open on one
side and is filled with several inches of pea gravel. It faces east
to catch the morning sunlight.
"For five years after it was installed, the nesting box remained
empty," Hofman noted. "Then, in 2000, the Peregrines showed
up and decided to move in. We are very grateful for the guidance
and assistance provided to us by the local raptor specialist and
the Michigan DNR. It's a rare person who will climb 240 feet up
the side of a power plant stack to examine and band baby birds while
being dive-bombed by angry parent falcons."
The DNR's Peregrine falcon program is funded through its Natural
Heritage Nongame Fish and Wildlife Fund. Established in 1983, the
Nongame Wildlife Fund is the primary source of funding for the management
of nongame and endangered animals, plants, and their habitats in
Michigan. The DNR encourages Michigan residents to purchase a wildlife
habitat license plate. Funds from the plate, which features a loon,
supports projects for Peregrines and other endangered and threatened
species.
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