On July 10th 2008, our Peregrine chicks received identification bands through a process that has been carried out across North America for the past number of decades. Folks who attended the event in person received a huge amount of education and knowledge from Mark Nash of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation.

Mark Nash and the CPF have intimate and extremely broad knowledge and understanding of Peregrine Falcons, and hearing a presentation by the CPF is a very educational experience recommended to all. For folks who were unable to attend the event, this article will explain the why, when, who, where, and how of the banding process, information we should all know, understand and respect.


Why:

The Peregrine Falcon has been classified in Ontario as a protected species for decades, and most recently as a Species at Risk (SAR). This designation means that the species is protected under provincial and federal legislation and that specific monitoring and protective measures need to be taken to assist in the ongoing recovery of the species population, here and abroad.

Our Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has many initiatives underway to protect SARs. As hosts to a family of Peregrine Falcons, our building is doing our part to support the MNR's processes and mandates which include among other things:

1. Nesting/Habitat Protection - we have taken many measures to ensure that our Peregrine family are able to successfully carry out their nesting process without interference

2. Ongoing tracking and monitoring - volunteer observers are working together to keep an eye on the falcons, monitoring daily activities and watching for any irregular occurrances

3. Education - news bulletins, articles, and multiple visits by Mark and Marion Nash of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, have all helped us to gain an understanding of the Peregrine falcon, the challenges they face, and what we can do to assist in their recovery.

The bird banding ceremony represents an important milestone in the protection of our Peregrines, and serves all of the above mandates.

The banding of the falcons is a necessary procedure which causes some brief stress for the family, but provides long term benefits to the species. The event held at our building was well attended, and very exciting. It's worth noting that with attendees or without, the banding would have taken place. The event at our site was conducted in a way that shared the experience with residents, and imparted educational value at the same time.

In addition to the above mandates, the banding of our birds serves two other key purposes, as explained by Mark Nash during the ceremony:

a) ID bands help to track origins and migration patterns of the falcons over the course of their life, enabling both American and Canadian authorities to understand the history of birds when they appear at new sites

b) Birds banded with these ID bracelets are protected from falconry harvesting in the U.S.A.. In simple terms, the U.S.A. is now allowing harvesting of falcons in their country. Birds can be taken from the wild and trained/used for falconry. Birds with "recovery" bracelets are protected from such harvesting activities. Banding our birds ensures that they remain an active part of the Canadian Recovery efforts.


When:

If you've followed the ongoing monitoring of our Peregrine family, you know that egg laying, incubation, and hatch events were all carefully observed and documented. With the CPF's guidance, these established a timeline that allowed us to plan each step.

The egg incubation took 32 days. Hatching of our chicks happened in 3 consecutive days, July 16th, 17th and 18th. The moment the first chick hatched, arrangements for the banding date started being made between the CPF, MNR, and all other team members.

There is a small window of time during which it's safe to band falcons. The ideal age range is 18-28 days. If they're too young the bands will fall off their legs, if they're too old they could try to fly away. Knowing their hatch date and exact age allowed us to perform the banding when they were 23, 24, and 25 days old. Beyond 28 days of age the task would have become much more dangerous for the young, who are then mobile enough to try to get away, but not yet ready to fly.


Who:

The banding event came to fruition thanks to the joint efforts of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, as well as the building staff, management, and the gutsy rock climbing team.

The CPF have extensive experience coordinating the logistics of these events, and pulled all team members together given the unique challenges faced at the site. At other sites window washers and swing stages are used, in our case that wasn't feasible, we needed rock climbers experienced in the tactics of falcon extraction.

The banding is a provincial government protocol, and was performed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.


Where

The location of this banding was on a private residential property. Efforts have been made to avoid undue exposure to the site, while still sharing the development and news regarding our falcon family. The respecting of this fact thus far and into the future is both necessary and appreciated.


Now that you know the background of why the banding took place, check out the photo-documentation of how it unfolded.

Click here to read Part 2 - The Extraction