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The
Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group History
The Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group (SCPBRG) was founded
in the mid 1970s. In the beginning, SCPBRG was focused on management
and surveys to assist in the restoration of the endangered Peregrine Falcon
on the west coast. Funding was made available from several
sources, including foundations, industry, the California Department
of Fish and Game, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and
many other government agencies.
Working closely with Dr. Tom Cade and his associates at The
Peregrine Fund at Cornell University, SCPBRG helped develop a
continent-wide approach to peregrine recovery. The program began on
a small scale with the removal of eggs from wild nests and the
fostering of young into them.
Captive breeding, nest site manipulations, and other release
efforts were essentially completed in 1992 after 15 years. A total
of 777 young Peregrines
were released by SCPBRG, 702 in California.
The population is now monitored to determine status and stability.
Monitoring
SCPBRG helped coordinate statewide monitoring programs.
Biologists visited peregrine territories to determine the level of
continued success of the peregrine recovery program.
Nest Management
SCPBRG collected eggs from wild peregrine nests for hatching.
Some of the captive hatched young were returned to wild nests
(fostering), some were released from hack sites, and some were kept
for captive breeding.
Captive Release Program
Between 1977 and 1992, SCPBRG banded (with anodized blue aluminum
bands) and released over 750 captive-hatched Peregrines
. Over 100 of
those had entered the breeding population as of 1992. SCPBRG and
associates also banded (with non-anodized aluminum bands) over 400
wild nestlings between 1980 and 1992. Blue-banded birds have been
observed in over 70 territories.
Fostering
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"The chicks had been
flown by commercial airline from New York to California,
carried up the Rock in packs, and placed in the nest by
Phyllis Dague and Ron Walker of The Peregrine Fund. The
adults accepted and fed the chicks, a successful fostering
technique. This was the first time and place in California
where a wild aerie
was fostered with captive-bred Peregrine Falcon
young."
Steve Schubert
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From 1981 to 1992, 297 Peregrine Falcons
were fostered into wild
peregrine nests in California by SCPBRG.
Cross-Fostering
Captive-hatched Peregrines
were fledged from wild prairie falcon
nests. From 1981 to 1992, 107 Peregrine Falcons
were cross-fostered
in California by SCPBRG.
Hack Site
 While
some of the captive hatched chicks were fostered into peregrine
nests in the wild, others were raised by captive Peregrines
until
they were about 35 days old and then transported to hack sites. At
these sites the young Peregrines
were kept in a large box with a
barred front and fed through a food chute to avoid associating with
humans. These Peregrines
were fitted with small telemetry
transmitters. Once they became accustomed to their surroundings, in
about a week, they were released. Feeding continued at the site
until the young had learned to hunt on their own and no longer
depended on the hack site for food.
This technique allowed the introduction of Peregrine Falcons
into
areas where they no longer nested. The major disadvantage was the
absence of adult falcons to protect the young from predators.
Hack sites in California included Boney Ridge, Bonneville Dam, El
Capitan Reservoir, Fort Cronkite, Keddie Ridge, Kings River, Lake
Crowley, Lake Eleanor, Lee Vining, Muir Beach, North Yosemite, Palos
Verdes, Point Loma, San Bernardino, San Miguel Island, Santa
Catalina Island, Santa Ynez Ridge, South Lake Tahoe, Tomales Point,
and Westwood.
From 1981 to 1992, 296 Peregrine Falcons
were hacked in
California by SCPBRG.
Hacking is still used to salvage and translocate Peregrines
from
urban sites and those at which Peregrines
might affect nesting
California least terns, another endangered species.
SCPBRG Today
Because of the growth of the wild population, this sort of
hands-on manipulation is no longer done. Eggshell fragments and
addled eggs are collected and analyzed for pesticide contamination
by the Bodega Bay Institute of Pollution Ecology and the Toxicology
Program of UCSC. They are also measured for eggshell thinning by the
Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. SCPBRG continues to
monitor the peregrine population.
SCPBRG staff members are available for elementary and secondary
school assemblies. Slide lectures will teach the impact of
contaminated food webs in the context of a natural history lesson
and will end on a positive note with the display of one of SCPBRG's
raptors. The Predatory Bird Research Group is self-funded and
required to cover all of the costs of its activities. Schools will
be asked to provide a usual and customary honorarium for assemblies.
To learn more about the program, its cost, or to schedule an
assembly, please email them at
falconet@cats.ucsc.edu.
Today the core staff at the SCPBRG consists of Coordinator Brian
Walton; research associates W. Grainger Hunt, Janet Linthicum, Brian
Latta; and office staff Tery Drager and Cheryl Walton.
FalcoNet
As the population of Peregrine Falcons
expands, SCPBRG depends
more and more on a volunteer network of trained observers,
birdwatchers, falconers, and nature enthusiasts. You can help
monitor Peregrines
through FalcoNet. Contact SCPBRG to see what you
can do to insure the continued success of the peregrine recovery
program.
In Pursuit is the newsletter of SCPBRG. If you are
interested in receiving In Pursuit, send your name and
address by email or regular mail to the address listed below.
Predatory Bird Research Group
Long Marine Lab
University of California
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: (408) 459-2466
FAX: (408) 459-3115
Email:
falconet@cats.ucsc.edu
Web Site:
www2.ucsc.edu/~scpbrg
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