We think you will find that Skip Ambrose's answers are fascinating and more than enough to keep you busy!
From NEW JERSEY:
Q. Why do Peregrines only have three to four eggs? Are they hard to take care of?
A. No one really knows the answer to this question, but biologists think that peregrine falcons have three to four eggs because this is as many eggs as the female can keep warm during incubation (because her body is only so big) and because it is hard to feed more than three or four young falcons.
Q. When Alyson Cocchiaro was trying to find where her Peregrine Falcon lived she discovered that in a book it said that Peregrine Falcons only lived in Baffin Island and Africa, but others in our group found their Falcons in other parts of the world such as Galapogos Islands, Belize, Central America and Northern Canada. Why?
A. Peregrine falcons are truly a world-wide species and occur nearly everywhere. The biggest reason for this wide distribution is because they can live and nest in a wide range of habitats--from the desert to the forests--and because they eat a wide range of prey--they are not "specialists" and they eat all types of other birds. So peregrine have no limiting factors that keep them out of some areas--they seem to fit in almost anywhere. The other reason is that peregrines are very good at what they do: this is, catching other birds to eat and defending their territory and young from other predators.
Q. Does any culture eat Peregrine Falcons or is D.D.T. the reason why they have disappeared in numbers?
A. We don't know of any cultures that eat peregrine falcons. D.D.T. was by far the biggest reason for population declines. When we stopped using D.D.T., peregrine populations began to increase immediately.
Oradell Public School oradell@intac.com
From NEW YORK:
This is Jessica Siskin from Mrs. Berger's class.
Q. How old are Peregrine falcons when they can leave their mothers?
A. Young peregrine falcons take their first flight at about 44 days of age. At this time they are about as big as their mothers, but can't really fly very well and can't catch their own food, so the parents keep feeding them for about 6 more weeks. After about 6 to 8 weeks, the young can hunt for themselves and then leave the nesting area and their parents.
Q. Why and how did DDT harm their eggs?
A. When DDT gets into the falcon's body, it interfers with calicum formation which is necessary to make eggshells. Falcons that have a lot of DDT in their body lay eggs with very thin shells--so thin that the eggs usually break before they hatch. As a result, falcons with high DDT do not reproduce which causes populations to decline.
Q. What kind of nests do they make?
A. Falcons do not make nests like most birds, but often they use the old nests of other birds, like eagles or crows. Peregrine falcons nest on cliffs and usually just find a nice ledge or cave, and lay their eggs in a little depression on the cave or ledge floor.
K12robzj@hofstra.edu or jberger@dorsai.org Joan Berger
Internet Educational Consultant Roslyn Public Schools
From NEW YORK:
Q. Why didn't falcon #871 fly south for the winter?
Can a hatchling survive all winter in the Yukon?
Sabrina and David
A. We know that a peregrine falcon--adult or hatchling--cannot survive all winter in a northern area. The prey birds that peregrine eat migrate south, so peregrines have to migrate south too.
We won't know what happened to 871 until we find the bird or transmitter. Two things could have happened: the transmitter fell off and now is just sending signals from the Yukon, or the hatching died during migration and is dead in the Yukon. We may never know what happened.
Q. How does the climate affect the direction the falcons fly? Michael.
A. In general, peregrines and all other birds migrate south to warmer weather for the winter. However, during the migration, weather patterns, storms, winds and other factors influence the direction or route they take. But generally they still end up in the same wintering locations.
Q. Do the baby falcons go with their mothers? If so, couldn't you use the mother's transmitter to find out where the baby will be? Giovanna
A. Sometimes young falcons may try to migrate with their mothers, but nearly always they become separated during migration, so we can't find the young using the mother's transmitter.
Ms. Babcock's class, Elmont, Long Island, New York
k12elbac@vaxc.hofstra.edu
From SOUTH CAROLINA:
We are third graders from Lexington, South Carolina. We are enjoying Journey North and learning about different animals.
Q. Do the peregrine falcons that are released in cities show signs of being disturbed by all the noise?
A. Peregrine falcons and other wildlife species are in some ways like humans: individuals vary greatly. Some of us like to live in small towns, some like big towns, and some like no towns. Peregrines are the same way: some of them don't mind the noise of the city, but others are disturbed by the noise and prefer to nest in the wilderness. The peregrines that nest in the cities don't seem to be disturbed by the noise, but other peregrines, like some of the ones I study in Alaska, can be disturbed by lots of noise.
Q. Do city dwelling peregrine falcons lay as many eggs as peregrine falcons in the wild?
A. Yes. They all lay three to four eggs generally; sometimes five but not very often.
Third grade students in Mrs. Quinn's class,
Oak Grove Elementary
Theresa Harmon oge@scsn.net Lexington, South Carolina
From MINNESOTA:
Q. How do you get to the birds to put the backpack on?
A. For the adult falcons, we make traps near the nest sites which the adults think are "threatening" their babies, and we can catch them, put on the transmitter, and release them. They go back to their nests shortly after we leave the area. For the young, we go to the nest right before the young can fly, and they are nearly full-grown, and put on the transmitter.
Q. How long can they live?
A. The oldest falcon we know about is 17 years old. On average, they live about 7 or 8 years.
Dustin Ho, Lakeview Elementary
kstone@metro2.k12.mn.us (Karla Stone)
From SOUTH DAKOTA:
Q. What sort of design is the harness that is used to mount the transmitter. Current wildlife management and falconry literature shows the mounting of the transmitter to be somewhat of a debate. Some, such as B. A. Kinsey suggest that the backpack design is best, since it centers the weight of the transmitter over the bird's center of gravity, but haven't yet figured out how to do it effectively. What was your solution to the problem that makes it work for you? If the answer is available in a book-in-print, please let us know which one.
A. We use a harness material made of teflon which is very soft and smooth yet very strong. It is about .25 inches thick. The transmitters and harness fit on the bird very much like a backpack fits on a person. We make a "H" pattern on the breast to spread out the weight of the package, and go over each shoulder and around the belly and attach to the transmitter on the back. We use cotton thread to stitch attach the harness to the transmitter, and this cotton thread rots and falls apart in about 2 years. When this happens, the transmitter falls off.
We do not always use the backpack method; for some studies we attach transmitters to tail feathers. However, the transmitters have to be very small to attach to the tail feathers, both because of center of gravity and because a tail feather cannot support very much weight. These transmitters have very small batteries and weight only about 4 to 6 grams. The transmitter range is pretty small, maybe 10 miles. The satellite transmitters need bigger batteries to get the signal up to the satellite, and they weight about 30 grams. This is too big for a tail feather, so we use the backpack design. The good thing about the tail feather mount is that the tail feathers are molted once a year so we know the bird will drop the transmitter within a year.
The best place to look for references on transmitter studies and attachment is in the wildlife journels, like the Journal of Wildlife Management or Journal of Field Ornithology. Your library search programs should locate some references for you.
Q. How do you get the small transmitter to be programmable to only transmit every 20 days?
A. The electronics of the transmitter are very small, about 2 grams, and they are tiny computer chips. They have memory and on/off switches on these chips, so we can program on and off periods.
Q. What sort of batteries do they use, NiCad, Mercury, solar?
A. The satellite transmitters use lithium batteries. We are working solar cell transmitters and maybe next year we will try some. The solar batteries should last a long time.
"Holter, Mary" mholter@msmailgw.sdsmt.edu
From MASSACHUSETTS:
Q. Why is Falcon #871 in the Yukon while the rest are around Mexico?
A. Two things might have happened: either the transmitter fell of during migration, or the bird died. We won't know until we go to that area and look for the transmitter or bird.
esta@cybercom.net (Estabrook School)
From MAINE:
Hi, This is Felicia and John from Southwest Harbor, Maine. We are studying peregrine falcons and we have a couple of questions:
Q. Do you track them every year?
A. I track about 15 to 20 every year. I have never tracked the same one for more than one year, but if we can develop solar batteries the transmitters will last longer and maybe we will be able to track falcons for several years.
Q. Do you track all year round?
A. Yes. Our current batteries last about one year.
Q. Do falcons live in all climates?
A. They live in moderate to warm climates, and tend to migrate to avoid very cold. For example, they nest in northern Alaska and Russia during summer, but migrate south in the winter to avoid the intense cold and also because most of the prey birds they eat migrate south during the winter.
Q. How do you get the pictures from the satellite? How does the satellite get the pictures?
A. The satellite doesn't send pictures, but a series of numbers. The numbers include latitude and longitude of the transmitter (this is how we get location information), and also temperature, activity, and battery strength.
Thank you for your help and time. Felicia and John
grade5fh@pemetic.u98.k12.me.us Fran Howley
From MAINE:
Q. Dear Skip, I dont really get the back-pack thing. It's kind of hard to understand. I was wondering if you could tell me about them. So I guess your my scientest. Cecilie Alley
A. The best way to picture the back-pack thing is to think of yourself putting on your small day pack. This is exactly what we do. We put a small back-pack on the falcon, complete with shoulder straps, like your day-pack, and a belly straps around the bird's waist. The only difference is that the birds cannot take off the back-pack. But it is very small and does not interfer with flying or hunting.
"Clixby G. Three" mcg3@emerson.u98.k12.me.us
From ONTARIO:
Q. During the spring and fall migrations at Presqu'ile Provincial Park, near Brighton , Ontario, we often spot migrating peregrine falcons. However, I understand that there are a number of sub-species of peregrine falcons. Hence the ones in Alaska may be a different sub-species from the ones we observe in Ontario. Is this correct?
A. There are three subspecies in North America. Peale's peregrine falcons live on the west coast of British Columbia and Alaska and don't migrate in your area. The other two subspecies are Arctic peregrine falcons and American peregrine falcons, and you probably see both in Ontario. The Arctic subspecies nests in the tundra areas in the very northern parts of Alaska and Canada, and the American subspecies nest from Mexico to the U.S. and to central Canada (or up to the tundra areas). I am studying American peregrine falcons on this project. Both of these subspecies migrate from the nesting areas in Canada and Alaska south to Central and South America for the winter.
Donald_Davis@stubbs.woodsworth.utoronto.ca (Donald Davis)
Organization: Woodsworth College
Fom NEW JERSEY:
Q. Dear Skip,
I am a sixth grader livung in New Jersy and I am intersted in
doing reaserch and helping the Peregrine falcons I would like
to corispond with you so that I can gather and share my
reserch with my school mates .
A. I would be happy to help you and you can contact me via the internet as you did for this question.
Q. Dear Skip Ambros, I got a letter saying that I can ask some questions so here they are .Why is the Peregrine Falcon migration such a mestrey?
A. Bird migration is not well understood because different species do different things, and we don't really know why. We think birds migrate to avoid the cold and to be near food sources, but some birds migrate a few hundred miles, or less, and some species migrate several thousand miles each spring and fall. Using satellite equipment, we are finding out, for example, why peregrine falcons go to Central America, but there is still a lot we don't know.
Q. Is it true that Peregrines might be taken off the endangered spicies list? What have we been doing to help them? Also what makes them so unique? Thats my limit so I will be expecting a reply with in a week hear from you then.
A. Yes, the Fish and Wildlife Service is thinking about taking the peregrine falcon off the endangered species list. The reason the falcons were put on the list is because DDT caused their populations to decline to about 10 or 20% of what they once were; however, when we stopped using DDT, populations began to recover and now they are healthy again. Peregrine falcons, like every other wildlife species, are unique in their own way. All wildlife species evolved to fill some niche and all play an important role in the "big picture" scheme of things. Peregrine falcons are especially unique because they can fly so fast, about 200 mph in a dive, and because they migrate such long distances.
Sincerley, Myles Maranca
Toll Gate Grammar School
Myles_Maranca@hvrsd.k12.nj.us
From MINNESOTA:
Q. Why do you track falcons?
A. We track falcons to learn about factors that influence their survival, such as where they breed, where they migrate and winter, and what habitats and food are important to them. We do this so we can learn what we need to do to insure they will always have what they need to survive. We want to be able to manage the species so they do not go extinct.
Q. How many peregrine falcons are in the whole world? How many peregrine falcons are in Minneapolis, Minnesota?
A. No one knows the question about the whole world, but most of us think many thousands of peregrine exist world-wide. In Minneapolis, there may be three or four pairs, but you would have to ask some local wildlife officials.
Shingle Creek students in room 62
Thanks for being the expert! The kids are really enjoying Journey North!
rchriste@ties.k12.mn.us (Rita Christenson)
From FLORIDA:
Q. What is the eye color of the Perigrine Falcon and does it change with age?
A. Peregrine's eyes are very dark, almost black, and it does not change with age. Some other hawk's eye color does change with age, but not peregrine falcons.
Richard Gehman gehman@yoda.fdt.net
From FLORIDA:
Q. Why is the female peregrine falcon larger than the male peregrine falcon?
A. No one really knows the answer to this question, but most people think it is so she can protect the eggs and young and also so that, together, both the smaller male and larger female can exploit a wider range of prey. The smaller male is better at catching small birds and the larger female is better at catching larger birds, so this helps in feeding hungry young.
Oak Hall School Media Center ohsmedia@yoda.fdt.net
From TENNESSEE:
Dear Skip Ambrose,
We have received your message and here are our three questions.
Q. About how many Peregrine Falcons are left in the world?
A. No one really knows, but mostly they are recovering and there are probably several thousands world-wide.
Q. How many Peregrine Falcons are seen each year?
A. Biologists and bird watchers probably seen a few thousand each year. Some we see often, visit their nests, and study them; others are seen during migration or just a few times.
Q. About how long is a Peregrine Falcon's wing span?
A. A female's wingspan is about 44 inches.
Bretanie, Austin, Evan, Karen, Anne Marie, Clint, & John
Mr. Neidig's 4th grade classroom
dneidig@next01.oradm.ortn.edu
From MINNESOTA:
Here are our questions for the expert this week on peregrine falcons:
Q. How large are the prey commonly killed by peregrine falcons?
A. Peregrines can catch birds ranging in size from small sparrows to large ducks such as mallards.
Q. What are the natural enemies of the peregrine falcon?
A. They do not have many natural enemies, but great-horned owls are the biggest threat. Also, some nest cliffs are accessible to mammals like raccoons, and they are a big threat.
Q. Do both male and female pergrines incubate the eggs?
A. Yes, both incubate eggs but the female does the most.
Life science students
Fosston High School
Margaret Menzies, science teacher
rjohnso@informns.k12.mn.us
From MINNESOTA:
Q. We know that the Peregrine Falcon lives in Alaska and Washington, but where do they migrate?
A. According to our satellite information, most of them migrate to Central and South America.
Q. Why do Peregrine Falcons migrate?
A. They migrate to follow their prey and avoid the cold winters.
Thank You!
Kathleen Waddell, Derek Cannon, Eric Malmquist
Glen Lake Elementry
"Elizabeth Ogren"elizabeth_ogren@hopkins.k12.mn.us
From MINNESOTA:
Q. What temperatures do the peregrine falcons like for their habatat?
A. They like moderate to warm habitat. Mainly, they need a habitat with prey, and if there is abundant prey, the peregrines can usually do okay.
Q. When the peregrine falcon is diving at 200 mph how does it keep its flying prey in sight to catch it.
A. Peregrine falcons have special protective clear membranes that cover their eyes and this helps during the high speed dives.
Q. How does the peregrine falcon go so fast?
A. Peregrine can fly about 60 miles per hour during level flight, but they get their very high speed during a dive and using gravity to get such high speeds.
Robbinsdale Jr. High Trainingpdc5@metro2.k12.mn.us
From NEBRASKA:
Q. Do falcons nest in trees? If so what kind?
A. Not very often. They prefer cliffs for nest sites, so if they do nest in a tree, it has to be a big one the kind of seems like a cliff--big and protected from predators.
Q. What kinds of illnesses are falcons susceptible to?
A. Not very many but to a few avain birds diseases. Avain pox and a few others, but peregrines tend to be pretty healthy. They bathe every day and keep their feathers in very good condition, so this probably helps them stay pretty disease free.
Q. What's in the transmitters---is it some kind of computer chip?
A. Yes- The transmitter itself is a chip and weighs about 2 grams. Most of the weight in a transmitter is the battery.
Thank you.
Lynn Connell lconnell@esu6.esu6.k12.ne.us
Challenge Class from Humboldt, Nebraska.
From ONTARIO:
Q. Why is a hack box installed on a face of a cliff?
A. Because peregrine falcons normally nest on cliffs, so it is best to release young falcons in a place where they are supposed to be raised--and then they will realize that cliffs are their natural nesting sites. Also, predators can't get to cliff nest sites.
Q. How long do falcons live?
A. The oldest is about 17 years old; most live 7 or 8 years.
Q. Do different kinds of falcons travel the same migration route?
A. Some do. Most falcons and other large birds use tail winds and land forms to help migration, so often along migration routes we see several different species of hawks.
Josh Windsor
Scott Young Public School syoung@web.apc.org
From FLORIDA:
Q. Why is the female peregrine falcon larger than the male peregrine falcon?
A. No one really knows why, but people think it is because the larger female can defend the eggs and young better from predators, and also to exploit different prey species. That is, the smaller male is better at catching smaller prey, and the larger female is better at catching larger prey. This helps the parent falcons feed hungry young.
ohsmedia@yoda.fdt.net (Oak Hall School Media Center)
From MASSACHUSETTS:
Q. What is the bigest thing a Peregrine Falcon will eat ?
A. About a mallard-sized duck.
Q. How long do you estimate the Peregrine Falcon has been around?
A. Many thousands of years.
Q. How far can a Perigrine Falcon see?
A. It depends on the quality of the air, but they see about 8 times better than humans.
Charles, Max and Nick
From: fpoor@poorhouse.lexington.ma.us
From VIRGINIA:
Hello,
We have finally answed Your question (What do they eat?) Peregrine Falcons
eat: Pigeons, starlings and other small birds.
A. Exactly, and even more. They eat many different species of birds, from small sparrows to large ducks like mallards.
Q. Why is the Eastern population of the Peregrine Falcon Endangered?
A. The pesticide DDT was introduced in the 1940 to control agricultural pest insects. No one knew it at the time, but DDT caused falcons and eagles and some other birds to lay very thinned shelled eggs--so thin they did not hatch. Since no eggs were hatching, the populations began to decline. When we finally figured out DDT was the problem, we stopped using DDT and the peregrine and eagles and other birds began to recover.
Q. What is their Scientific Name?
A. Falco peregrinus anatum.
Q. What is the Current Status?
A. They are Endangered.
Q. What colors are Peregrine Falcons?
A. Adult falcons are light gray on the back and mostly white on the breast, and first year falcons are brown. After one year, they start getting adult plumage.
Thanks
Tommy Martin, Matthew Winchell and April Phillips.
2nd grade aphillip@pen.k12.va.us
P.S. Where is your company located?
A. The Fish and Wildlife Service is located throughout the U.S. My office is in Fairbanks, Alaska. What is your phone number? 907-456-0239, but it is best to contact me through the internet.
From TEXAS:
Q. Do peregrine falcons eat anything besides chicks and eggs?
A. They do not eat chicks and eggs; they eat birds, ranging is size from small sparrows to large ducks like mallards.
Q. What is the longest known life span?
A. The oldest we know about is 17 years old, but most live to be 7 or 8.
Q. Do they peck or tear when they kill their prey?
A. Most often, the prey is killed when the peregrine hits it with its talons during a high-speed dive.
Judith Keese Leland joleland@tenet.edu
From NEW YORK:
We are fifth grade students at the Howell Road School in Valley Stream, N.Y. Brian Lovell, Chris Kiefel, Kerri Kelty, Samantha Smith, would like to ask the following questions.
Q. How long does the peregrine falcon live?
A. The oldest we know about was 17 years old. Most live to be about 7 or 8.
Q. Is it true that only the female peregrine falcons are called peregrine falcons and the males are called tiercel?
A. Yes. The males are about 1/3 smaller, and "tierce" means 1/3...so 1/3 smaller than the female.
Q. How long does it take an average peregrine falcon to travel north?
A. We don't know, but maybe this spring we will find out. We would guess about 6 weeks.
Q. How many miles per hour do they travel to catch their prey?
A. They can achieve speeds of up to 200 mph during a dive, and that is how they hunt and catch prey.
Q. What colors are they? Male? Female?
A. Males and females are the same color, but first year birds are different than adults. First year birds are brown and white, and adults are gray on the back and white on the breast.
Q. Are there other similar species of the falcons?
A. Yes. Prairie falcons are the same size, but live in dry areas like western North America. Peregrine live in many different climates. Also, prairie falcons eat small mammals and peregrine falcons eat birds.
Q. Do they eat their babies if there is something wrong with them?
A. Only if they die in the nest.
Q. Can they move to a different climate?
A. Yes. This is why they migrate. And to follow prey birds.
Q. Do they search for prey on mountains?
A. They hunt in many different habitats, including mountains.
Q. What is the normal speed of flying?
A. About 40 or 50 mph.
Q. How high can they fly?
A. We don't know, but probably several thousand feet, up to 10,000 or 15,000 feet.
Q. What kind of climate do they live in?
A. The nest in any moderate climate, as long as there are prey birds to eat, they seem to do well.
Q. Do they have better eyesight and hearing than humans?
A. Yes. They see about 8 times better than we do.
Q. Do they fly in storms?
A. Sometimes, but they prefer nice weather and a tail wind--it makes migration easier.
Q. Where do they lay eggs?
A. On a cliff, using in a cave or some sheltered area.
Q. Do they fly in a v formation?
A. No. They tend to migrate alone.
Q. What color are their eggs?
A. Buffy reddish-brown.
Nada Tannen ntannen@netcom.com
From NEW YORK:
We are fifth grade students, Erin Egan, Michael Phillips, Jamie Tracey, Elizabeth Rini, Laura Balaban, Nancy Vuong and Valerie Ferrara, at the James A. Dever School. Mrs. Tannen is our library teacher.
Q. Where is the satellite pack attached?
A. We use a backpack design much like a humam backpack. Two shoulder straps, and a belly band attach to the transmitter on the back.
Q. How many eggs do they lay? How many babies survive?
A. They lay three to four eggs and usually 1 or 2 young survive.
Q. How do the falcons communicate with each other?
A.They have a few calls but not very many. They usually keep track of each other visually.
Q. How are the satellite pack powered and repowered?
A. We use a lithium battery which lasts about 1 year. If we recapture the bird and remove the transmitter, we can put a new battery in it.
Q. How long have the falcons been around? Where were they discovered?
A. Probably several thousands of years. They have been recorded as long as humans have maintained written records.
Q. Do they have any predators? Who?
A. Great-horned owls are their biggest predators. Sometimes they attack peregrines at night.
Q. How can you tell the sex of the falcon?
A. The sexes look alike, but the female is about 1/3 bigger than the male.
Q. How do they mate?
A. The male lands on the females back and they copulate. He is very gentle with his sharp talons.
Q. What climates are they partial to?
A. Moderate climates, but anywhere with good prey is good for peregrines.
Q. Why are you tracking that particular falcon?
A. We track about 10 to 20 falcons every year. We don't have any special criteria for selecting the ones we track.
Q. What is the life span?
A. The oldest is 17 years old, but on average about 7 or 8.
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