Species-Specific Management (SSM)

Falcons: the Kestrel (Sparrowhawk) and Perigrine Falcon

There are two species of falcons that occur in the southern Appalachian forest region, the American kestrel or sparrow hawk Falco sparverius, and peregrine falcon (F. peregrinus). The American kestrel is the only falcon that commonly occurs in the region. The perigrine falcon, once listed as endangered, is recovering. F. p. anatum is listed (1995) as endangered in the southern Appalachian region.

American Kestrel (Sparrowhawk)

The sparrow hawk (Falco sparverius) is properly called the kestrel. It is the smallest American falcon. It appears to be monogamous. They nest in tree cavities and cliff areas and will nest in boxes such as placed in forests for gray squirrels. It ranges throughout the southern Appalachian forest, primarily at edges of openings and roadsides. It is a small bird, about 11 inches long. The female is slightly smaller. It perches at field edges and from there preys upon rodents, small birds, lizards and large insects such as grasshoppers. Birds in Virginia tend to migrate to North Carolina. Some males stay in place. Birds farther north tend to migrate farther south. The maximum migration recorded has been from Alberta to Mexico, some 2600 miles.

The American kestrel is an important part of the ecosystem of the southern Appalachian forest because of their feeding behavior on rodents and insects. It is abundant in areas characterized by scattered trees, woodlots, shelterbelts, meadows, highway and powerline rights-of-way, pastures, and hay fields.

Although kestrels do not need intensive mangement to thrive, there are many things that forest and wildlife managers can do in order to increase their populations. The following is a list of general habitat improvements for attracting and improving conditions for the population in the region. As with other suggestions for managing each species, these are only general and more detailed and up-to-date information should be sought from local wildlife managers.

Species Needs

• The primary management concern for kestrels is space. At least 950 acres are needed for nonbreeding kestrels to forage. They are not adversely affected by human disturbance and commonly thrive on agricultural lands and roadsides.
• Also of primary concern is the presence of prey species. Kestrel populations, like most temperate hawks, are regulated by the abundance of prey species available. Common prey species are: insects, small rodents, lizards, and small birds. Managers can readily increase these prey populations

Management Practices

1. Try to maintain all age-classes among the stands of the forest. This will help to increase songbirds, which are a year-around food source for the kestrel.
2. Old growth is important. Older trees make good perches which these birds of prey use as "lookout posts." Management includes assuring that snags and large trees are available (for cavities to form).
3. Favor trees with high wildlife values, especially heavy seed-, berry-, and fruit-producing species like autumn olive, Russian olive, dogwood, and thornapple. These will attract other wildlife, some of which will serve as prey to the kestrel.
4. Fields or forest openings are essential. Grassy fields provide rodents, which are an important food source. Management is that for providing prey, abundant rodents in forest-edge fields (including providing food, cover and conditions on such areas for rodents as prey), and that chlorinated pollutants (such as insecticides) do not enter their food chain.
5. Discourage fall plowing of harvested grain crops. Encourage sharecropping agreements. Encourage agriculturists not to plow under fall crops or to plant winter crops in order to keep cover on fields all year around. This practice will provide cover and foraging habitat for prey species. Keep grasses and forbs in openings and rights of way less than 10 inches in height in order to enable the kestrel to forage..
6. Fields, clearcut openings, and road edges must be adjacent to old growth timber. This creates maximum edge, essential for the kestrel's foraging behavior. This condition and the bird's behavior puts in conflict with efforts to increase grouse populations in the same areas. Game managers typically consider songbirds as "buffer species", reducing predation pressure on turkey and grouse populations.
7. If open areas are not already present, they can be created by clearcutting followed by burning. Preferred areas are next to the old growth.
8. A controlled burning plan is necessary in order to maintain the primary succession stage of the openings. Be sure to protect forests and fields from uncontrolled fires.
9. Establish living hedges or hedgerows around field boundaries to reduce soil erosion and provide perching sites.
10. Planting hedgerows between opposite-direction traffic lanes (and within wildlife clearings) may provide many rodent populations foraging and hiding cover and will thrive, providing a food source for the kestrels. Hedgerows and windbreaks should be planted along the edges of agricultural and forest fields to provide perching sites and prey cover adjacent to foraging areas. Desirable plant species can include: fescue, birdsfoot trefoil, multiflora rose, grape, black locust, sycamore, and white pine.
11. Leave brush piles on edges of agricultural fields and roadways for prey cover.
12. Leave snags. It is recommended that 3 to 5 den trees per acre in wooded areas should be saved for cavity-nesting birds. Kestrels will use the snags for perches as well. Snags will attract other birds also.
13. Management suggestions for snags are:
    • Reserve desirable snags (twigs absent, main limbs approximately one yard long, approximately 33% bark remaining).
    • Favor 12 - 16 inch DBH.
    • Favor (in southern areas) long leaf pine (Pinus palustris).
    • Reserve a minimum of 1 snag per 2 acres.
    • Manage long stand rotations.
    • Girdle trees.
    • Prohibit snag cutting.
    • Manage for medium sized woodpeckers and flickers.
14. Protect from humans during nesting periods by:
    • using vegetative buffer zones.
    • prohibiting people into the area during this time.
15. Electrical wires and their poles are primary perching sites. Kestrels often use high perches which can be provided by managers for the birds to watch for prey on the ground.
16. Put up nest boxes (the design of gray squirrel boxes). The main limiting factor of kestrels is a scarcity of cavities. Nest boxes should not be painted or sprayed, and no entrance perch is required, as kestrels do not need them and a perch attracts starlings. They should be placed on lone trees or posts, in or on the edge of a field.
17. Old buildings are good habitats for prey.
18. Build and place nest boxes (similar to those for gray squirrels):
    • facing south or east
    • 10 - 35 feet from the ground
    • with an unrestricted flight path to the box
    • with metal sleeves (3 foot girdle) placed on pole or tree to keep mammalian predators out
    • adjacent to areas used for foraging.
19. Create perches by:
    • planting trees
    • placing fence posts
    • placing used utility poles
20. Create waterholes if they are not already present. These will attract insects, which are the primary spring and summer food source of the kestrel. The insects, in turn, will attract bats, which also fall prey to kestrels.
21. Fence cattle from areas and graze them to control vegetation to produce prey. Fence them from waterways, and planted areas.
22. Discourage use of pesticides, especially on the edges of agricultural fields in order to increase the number of insects present for kestrels. Kestrels eat rodents and insects, and pesticides can do great damage to the birds and to their eggs.
23. Build and install nest boxes on the back of information signs on interstates.
24. Remind people that starlings compete with kestrels for nest sites in boxes, and, further, that starlings are an unprotected species.
25. Place signs throughout known nesting habitat warning people that there is a nesting kestrels area nearby and disturbance may warrant retaliation by the birds.
26. Obtain land for management by:
    • conservation easements
    • donations
    • leases
    • land purchase
27. Target education to new audiences such as:
    • land owners
    • timber industries
    • land developers
28. Designate habitat areas on land-use maps. Stress human benefits including:
    • pleasure
    • sustaining populations for future generations
    • moral ethics (it is the right thing to do).
29. Enforce laws that:
    • are enforceable by officials
    • include strict penalties
    • involve voluntary citizen action
30. Create "watch dog" organizations that monitor:
    • pesticides
    • heavy metals
    • unusual mortality
    • The birds themselves, plotting adjusted count changes over time
31. Maintain kestrel habitat in Texas and northern Mexico for overwintering individuals.
32. Describe the consequences in the future of a major change in the population (e.g., resulting from global warming, ozone effects, pollution)
33. Coordinate intra-agency management by involving employees from various levels to develop policies. Coordinate inter-agency planning by creating inter-agency committees. Develop funding for management by:
    • implementing tax refund check offs
    • lobbying
34. Keep a record of what you see and make adjustments in your practices.
35. Encourage visitors to observe the results of your work.
36. All falcons are protected by federal law. Educate the public that it is illegal to harm or kill any raptors, which includes the kestrel. Encourage birdwatching instead. The birds need protection from shooters. They are protected under international law as migratory birds. "People management" includes teaching people to identify the bird and to learn of its life history.
37. Participate by action or contribution in kestrel research.

Peregrine Falcon Notes

The peregrine falcon was removed from the endangered species list in September, 1999. Joint state and federal falcon management plans govern the capture and use of wild birds and seek to ensure that the recovery achieved under the Endangered Species Act is maintained.

The August 25 de-listing decision had the effect of allowing take of wild peregrines for falconry, raptor propagation, scientific collecting, and other purposes permissible under Migratory Bird Treaty Act regulations. However, the Service has prohibited taking wild peregrines except in very limited circumstances and continues to do so until a plan is prepared.. "Falconers played an important role in the recovery of this magnificent bird, and the Service supports the capture of falcons for falconry and other legitimate purposes. But we must take great care to evaluate the effects of these captures on population levels to make certain we don't erase the gains of the past three decades," Clark said.

Migrant juvenile peregrines were captured by falconers along the Atlantic coast barrier islands annually for many years prior to 1970. Although captive bred peregrines have been available for falconry since 1983, wild peregrines have not been available due to ESA restrictions.

In 1970, the Service listed the American peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969, the predecessor of the current law. The peregrine population in the eastern United States had completely disappeared, and populations in the west had declined by as much as 80 to 90 percent below historical levels. By 1975, the population reached an all-time low of 324 nesting pairs in North America. The related arctic peregrine (Falco peregrinus tundrius) also was listed as endangered, but was de-listed in 1994.

The banning of DDT, protection under the endangered species program, captive breeding programs, reintroduction efforts and the protection of nest sites during the breeding season in the US and Canada have led to a major recovery. Currently, there are at least 1,650 American peregrine breeding pairs in the United States and Canada, well above the overall recovery goal of 631 pairs. Arctic peregrines are even more abundant.

Management plans are being developed. The plan for migrant birds also will require cooperation with the governments of Canada, Greenland, and Mexico and the states.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has established tentative objectives for the combined plans that include:

• Protecting nestling and dispersing juvenile peregrines originating from breeding areas in eastern Canada and the United States.
• Allowing a conservative and sustainable level of take of migrant juvenile peregrines originating from the Alaskan and Canadian arctic and Greenland.
• Allowing a conservative and sustainable level of take of nestling peregrines from healthy populations in the western United States and Alaska.

Environmental Assessments were prepared in 1999. Contact:
Office of Migratory Bird Management at 703-358-1714.

See comments below:

A contribution of Julia Korndorfer (1991), Julie Ohanesian (1992), Jennifer C. Allen (1992), andMichael T. Maslanka (1992), Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0321

Submitted by Robert H. Giles, Jr.

Click here for other information on kestrel management.

The following, October 4, 1999 , is from Chris Tollefson 202-208-5634

SERVICE ANNOUNCES INTENT TO DEVELOP PEREGRINE FALCON MANAGEMENT PLANS

Taking steps to assure the continued protection of peregrine falcons (F. peregrinus) in the wake of the falcon's flight off the endangered species list last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it will prepare two peregrine falcon management plans. The joint State/Federal plans will govern the capture and use of wild peregrine falcons in the United States, to ensure that recovery achieved under the Endangered Species Act is maintained, while providing falconers the opportunities they deserve. "The delisting of the peregrine falcon is a testament to the Endangered Species Act and to years of effort by the biologists, conservationists, citizens and faloners who have made it work. We want to ensure that their hard work endures by setting management strategies that sustain peregrine falcons and keep them from returning to the endangered species list," said Service Director Jamie Rappaport Clark.

The August 25 delisting decision had the effect of allowing take of wild peregrines for falconry, raptor propagation, scientific collecting, and other purposes permissible under Migratory Bird Treaty Act regulations. However, the Service has continued the prohibition on take of wild peregrines except in very limited circumstances. The prohibition will remain in place until management plans governing take of peregrines from the wild are completed. "Falconers played an important role in the recovery of this magnificent bird, and the Service supports the capture of falcons for falconry and other legitimate purposes. But we must take great care to evaluate the effects of these captures on population levels to make certain we don't erase the gains of the past three decades," Clark said.

Migrant juvenile peregrines were captured by falconers along the Atlantic coast barrier islands annually for many years prior to 1970, and migrants and nestlings were captured less regularly elsewhere in the United States. Falconers in many States would like to see this traditional use of peregrines resume now that peregrines have met recovery goals. Although captive bred peregrines have been available for falconry since 1983, wild peregrines have not been available due to ESA restrictions, except in Alaska under certain circumstances.

In 1970, the Service listed the American peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969, the predecessor of the current law. The peregrine population in the eastern United States had completely disappeared, and populations in the west had declined by as much as 80 to 90 percent below historical levels. By 1975, the population reached an all-time low of 324 nesting pairs in North America. The related arctic peregrine (Falco peregrinus tundrius) also was listed as endangered, but was delisted in 1994.

The banning of DDT made the recovery of the peregrine falcon possible. But the protections provided by the Endangered Species Act and the extraordinary partnership efforts of the Service and state wildlife agencies, universities, private ornithological groups, and falcon enthusiasts accelerated the pace of recovery through captive breeding programs, reintroduction efforts and the protection of nest sites during the breeding season. Similar efforts took place in Canada, where the Canadian Wildlife Service and provincial agencies took the lead in a major captive breeding and reintroduction program. Currently, there are at least 1,650 American peregrine breeding pairs in the United States and Canada, well above the overall recovery goal of 631 pairs. Arctic peregrines are even more abundant.

One management plan will address the take of peregrine falcon nestlings in the United States. The other will address the take of immature peregrines that originate in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and migrate through the contiguous United States. The plans will be developed cooperatively by the Service and the States. The plan for migrant birds also will require cooperation with the governments of Canada, Greenland, and Mexico.

Once the plans are completed, the States will be responsible for managing the species within the framework of the plans. The Service's intent is that these management plans will apply only until the Service and the States agree that special management is no longer warranted.

The management plans will provide overall guidance for take of peregrines, including biological criteria for take of peregrines, implementation criteria, and procedures for evaluating and adjusting the take. Within the framework provided by each plan, State wildlife agencies will be responsible for decisions about take of peregrines.

The Service has established tentative objectives for the combined plans that include:

• Protecting nestling and dispersing juvenile peregrines originating from breeding areas in eastern Canada and the United States.
• Allowing a conservative and sustainable level of take of migrant juvenile peregrines originating from the Alaskan and Canadian arctic and Greenland.
• Allowing a conservative and sustainable level of take of nestling peregrines from healthy populations in the western United States and Alaska.

The environmental assessments will likely include several alternatives, permitting varying numbers of juvenile peregrines to be captured from particular management groups. Potential alternatives in the environmental assessment may include continued prohibitions on take, take of 5 percent of the annual production of a particular management group, 10 percent of the annual production of a management group, or no restrictions on take beyond the existing falconry regulations.

Additional alternatives may be identified during the public review that begins with today's publication in the Federal Register of a Notice of Intent to prepare two environmental assessments and two management plans. Further public review will be sought once the plans and assessments are drafted.

Public suggestions for the management plans are requested by November 12, 1999. Written comments may be submitted to the Chief, Office of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 634, Arlington, Virginia 22203. Comments may also be sent via fax to 703-358-2272. For further information, contact the Office of Migratory Bird Management at 703-358-1714.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93- million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised of more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management assistance offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

A source of traps and falconry equipment is with Brad Wood, who has a Masters degree in a wildlife related field.

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision July 17, 2002.