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July 2010

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From:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:15:28 -0400
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Dave & all--
     Yes, the UM data are very good. This pair has not successfully
nested (so don't have young to feed), but has been present yearly since
2006. Cuckoos form a surprising proportion of their diet (I recall
numbers of remains in the 60s recovered in one summer). Other major menu
items are rails and woodpeckers, also weak fliers. I visited Janet
Hinshaw, manager at the UM Museum, last week, and found her reassembling
wings of cuckoos from the debris dropped by those falcons. If I recall
correctly, our Akron birds have been knocking off a surprising number of
cuckoos, too. Who can blame these birds for taking easy tasty prey?
     Is having a couple of showy top-of-the-food-chain raptors of
dubious parentage worth significant impacts on populations of local
birds? They aren't killing many of the other introduced birds--pigeons
and starlings--we hoped they'd eat. What if we gave names like "Chloe"
and "Charisma" to the local cuckoos? What is the theoretical limit of
the spread of this population of falcons? Ohio has 35 nesting pairs now.
What will prevent them from occupying every church steeple and bank roof
ledge in the state? To me it seems they are joining the growing list of
problematic show-birds with no legitimate claim to Ohio citizenship,
like trumpeter swans or 'giant' Canada geese, which while they may not
so often kill native birds (I've seen one of the former trying to kill
one of the latter, though), at least chase them off traditional nesting
localities. Anyone's who's been checking Pond 3 at Killdeer in recent
years will know what the swans do; interestingly, they are not there
this year, and I hope managers are to be credited.
Bill Whan
Columbus

Dave Slager wrote:
 > The diet of the peregrines nesting at the University of Michigan is
 > well-documented.  Rails and cuckoos are especially well-represented
 > including a Yellow Rail.
 >
 > http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/birds/peregrine/um-peregrines.html
 >
 > I have found 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo carcasses under the Horseshoe at
 > OSU, beneath a common perch for the Columbus Peregrines.
 >
 > Dave
 >
 > Dave Slager
 > Graduate Student
 > Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Lab
 > School of Environment and Natural Resources
 > The Ohio State University
 > 210 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road
 > Columbus, OH  43210-1085
 > [log in to unmask]
 >
 >
 >
 > On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 10:34 AM, William Hull <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
 >> In the Cincinnati area rarely do I hear non-birders discuss the
 >> downtown Peregrine Falcons.  Typically I run into people who are
 >> interested in the increasing number of Bald Eagles and Wild Turkeys.
 >> It could be observer bias on my part since I do not spend a lot of time
 >> downtown and do spend a lot of time in areas where Bald Eagles and
 >> Wild Turkeys are found.
 >>
 >> I have heard from people who have monitored downtown nest sites that
 >> the Peregrines' prey items include American Woodcock and Yellow-billed
 >> Cuckoos.   An introduced raptor preying on local breeders can not be a
 >> good thing.  It could be that the location of the Cincinnati birds
 >> near the Ohio River and the floodplain parks of the Little Miami River
 >> gives them easy access to these birds.  I wonder what the Columbus
 >> birds prey upon?
 >> Cheers,
 >> Bill Hull
 >> Cincinnati, OH
 >>
 >>
 >> On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 4:41 AM, Margaret Bowman
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 >>> I suppose one of the better results of the peregrine program is the
interest
 >>> it generates in non-birders.  With things the way they are right now,
 >>> anything that excites the interest of "laymen" can't be all bad,
and the
 >>> Columbus peregrines have really caught the attention of folks who
know that
 >>> I'm a birder.  Every time a conversation comes up, the peregrines
come into
 >>> it before it's over.  Even people who don't know a robin from a
cardinal
 >>> have caught on to the drama of the Columbus falcons.  What's wrong with
 >>> that?
 >>>
 >>> Margaret Bowman
 >>> Licking Co., OH
 >>> ----- Original Message -----
 >>> From: "Tom Bain" <[log in to unmask]>
 >>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
 >>> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 11:17 PM
 >>> Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Raptor nest sites?
 >>>
 >>>
 >>>> Peregrine fans,
 >>>>
 >>>> Here's an intriguing statement from an observant Moravian missionary,
 >>>> David
 >>>> Zeisberger, speaking of the Muskingum River valley, in his "History of
 >>>> North
 >>>> American Indians" describing eastern Ohio during the American
Revolution
 >>>> and
 >>>> after, page 67:
 >>>>
 >>>> "Of other birds of prey, there are to be found here the hawk, the
 >>>> stone-falcon, that remains near the rocks, the pigeon-hawk, that
pursues
 >>>> not
 >>>> only the pigeon, but all other birds it can conquer, though it is
a small
 >>>> bird and not as large as the pigeon."
 >>>>
 >>>> Tom Bain
 >>>> The Clayey Till Plains
 >>>> Delaware, Ohio
 >>>>
 >>>> -----Original Message-----
 >>>> From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Bill
 >>>> Whan
 >>>> Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2010 12:51 PM
 >>>> To: [log in to unmask]
 >>>> Subject: [Ohio-birds] Raptor nest sites?
 >>>>
 >>>>       It seems like a good time of year to discuss nesting. I have
 >>>> questions
 >>>> about the nest sites chosen by raptors our wildlife agencies have
 >>>> introduced/re-introduced to Ohio, and would be very grateful for
 >>>> first-hand reports of nests in truly wild situations.
 >>>>       First, peregrine falcons. As many bird students know, prior
to the
 >>>> introductions there was no evidence this species had ever nested in
 >>>> Ohio. Nevertheless, wildlife managers decided to join a
 >>>> hastily-conceived stampede to introduce hacked birds to many locations
 >>>> in Ohio and other states, in an effort to support a recovery of the
 >>>> regional subspecies (even though they mostly introduced other
 >>>> subspecies), to provide educational opportunities, and also, I
suppose,
 >>>> to promote their stewardship of non-game species. I don't want to
argue
 >>>> any more about that, but is anyone aware of a truly wild nesting site
 >>>> for a peregrine falcon in the state?  Not a building or a bridge,
but a
 >>>> real cliff or tree, etc.??
 >>>>       I have the same question about ospreys. While I regard the
osprey
 >>>> project undertaken by wildlife managers to be a far more justifiable
 >>>> operation--ospreys have a solid record as Ohio nesters in the past,
 >>>> making the project a legitimate re-introduction effort--I have a
similar
 >>>> question. Is anyone aware of a successful osprey nest in Ohio that is
 >>>> placed in a wild nesting site---not a platform, a utility tower, etc.,
 >>>> but a real tree, etc.??
 >>>>       I would be glad to hear that falcons and ospreys have
returned to
 >>>> natural nest sites, but then I would not be terribly surprised to hear
 >>>> they have not. If the latter is the case, is there anyone else out
there
 >>>> who feels uncomfortable about such a situation?  Are we approaching a
 >>>> time when kestrels all nest in kestrel boxes, and barn owls in barns??
 >>>> Bill Whan
 >>>> Columbus

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