Scioto County – A falcon was saved from the waters of the Ohio River this month, and now is in a rehabilitation center where it will receive care and rereleased.
In early June, State Wildlife Officers Tyler Fields, assigned to Scioto County, and Bob Nelson, assigned to Ross County, patrolled the Ohio River. During that time they recieved a phone call from workers at Greenup Lock and Dam about an injured peregrine falcon that was rescued from the river.
According to the report the falcon was soaked and unable to fly. So the officers took the falcon into their care and transferred the falcon to a cage and evaluated its injuries. The falcon had a slightly broken beak and a minor wing injury.
Officer Fields contacted RAPTOR Inc. of Clermont County and transferred the falcon to the rehabber for further care.
The recovery of the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) following the species’ near total extinction from much of the United States is another success story for endangered species.
The peregrine falcon was removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999, and in 2015 the species was delisted in Ohio. Through hacking programs, peregrines have adapted to nesting on a variety of human-made structures such as skyscrapers, bridges, and other tall structures.
In 2016, because of the delisting of the species, the Division changed monitoring protocols for the species: 1) the Division no longer bands chicks at nesting sites, and 2) the Division monitors only a subset of nests every other year. In 2020, the Division monitored a total of 12 peregrine nests, 11 of which successfully fledged young.
Overall productivity rates were high, with a 79% hatching success rate, and 81% fledgling success rate (based on number of eggs laid per nest). An average of 3.0 young successfully fledged from each nest that was monitored.
From two juveniles in Toledo until 1993, the Ohio Division of Wildlife hacked 46 juvenile peregrines in Cincinnati, Akron, and Columbus. Ohio’s population grew steadily and exceeded 30 nesting pairs during 2011. In 2014, the Division of Wildlife confirmed 34 territorial pairs of peregrines statewide.
