The absence of a peregrine falcon couple from UC Berkeley’s well-known Campanile this January has alarmed a gaggle of observers who concern the avian flu has claimed the birds as its newest victims.
Cal Falcons, a corporation that has monitored the pair, Annie and Archie, for years has not seen the birds since early January — a regarding signal, because the birds would sometimes be getting ready to put their eggs and nest, based on East Bay Regional Parks District wildlife program supervisor Doug Bell.
“She’s a public figure as it were. I can bet people are taking it hard. It’s distressing to us,” Bell mentioned. “The fact that they’ve gone missing would suggest that something tragic has befallen them, perhaps the bird flu.”
Peregrine falcons are the quickest animals on this planet, reaching speeds as much as 240 miles per hour when dive bombing after prey. However the raptors are notoriously delicate to environmental modifications. Their inhabitants as soon as existed throughout North America, however the prolific use of pesticides akin to DDT starting within the Nineteen Forties brought about eggshell thinning and embryo deaths, based on a 1989 report by the California Division of Fish and Wildlife. Peregrine falcons ceased to exist east of the Mississippi River, and solely two pairs existed in California within the early Seventies, based on East Bay Regional Parks.
In one of the vital profitable conservation efforts in American historical past, the Environmental Safety Company banned DDT in 1972, ruling that widespread use of the pesticide was crippling falcons’ — along with bald eagles’ — capacity to breed. Within the many years that adopted, peregrine falcon and bald eagle populations have rebounded, and each species have been faraway from the endangered species listing.
In 2017, Annie the Peregrine Falcon took up residence atop the UC Berkeley Campanile, the world’s second-tallest freestanding clock and bell tower, the place she has raised quite a few broods with numerous mates. As Cal Birds waited for her to begin a brand new clutch together with her newest companion, Archie, this January, the pair went lacking. Bell and the opposite members of Cal Birds feared the worst.
“We’ve been responding to other incidents of bird carcasses or birds showing up sick around the Bay Area,” Bell mentioned. “It would not be surprising that the bird flu could be the cause of our Cal falcons’ disappearance.”
The most recent pressure of the avian flu, H5N1, has been extremely pathogenic since scientists first noticed it in 2022. Greater than 150 million industrial birds have been forcibly euthanized in an try to mitigate the pathogen’s unfold, based on the U.S. Division of Agriculture. Wild chook populations have additionally been hit onerous by the virus, and birds of prey have proven explicit vulnerability, Bell mentioned.
The latest annual report on California peregrine falcons, commissioned by the Humboldt Redwood Firm, confirmed a big decline in territories occupied by the birds for the reason that newest outbreak of the avian flu in 2022. Peregrine falcons occupied 87.5% of their identified territories in 2021, however they occupied solely half of these simply two years later.
Whereas Bell couldn’t definitively state that the avian flu was the explanation for Annie and Archie’s disappearance, he mentioned it’s extremely unusual for peregrine falcons to uproot themselves from a territory as soon as they’ve embedded themselves.
Berkeley’s resident peregrine falcons Annie, left, and Archie, with their eggs atop the Campanile on UC Berkeley’s campus on Saturday, April 13, 2024. Annie has lived on campus since 2017 however went lacking in early Jan., and advocates concern she is a sufferer of the avian flu. (Photograph courtesy of Cal Birds)
“They’re more true to their territory than they are to their mates. It’s in their biology to stay in that same territory,” Bell mentioned. “They’re unlikely to leave it unless it’s an exceptional circumstance.”
Bell and different conservationists are unable to trace Annie and Archie since peregrine falcons have been faraway from the endangered species listing in 1999 and subsequently not topic to trackers that may assist environmental teams monitor their whereabouts. As an alternative, teams like Cal Falcons have served as a watchful eye over the world’s quickest birds.
Even when Annie and Archie don’t return to their hallowed perch above Berkeley, Bell famous that the territory was nonetheless a major location for falcons to name dwelling. Maybe it may very well be taken by one among Annie’s offspring that lives on Alcatraz.
“In spite of these recent events,” Bell mentioned, “we’re hopeful that the peregrines will get through this particular epidemic and their populations will recover as soon as possible — because we know their populations can recover.”
Berkeley’s resident peregrine falcon Annie atop the Campanile on UC Berkeley’s campus on Friday..June 26, 2020. Annie has lived on campus since 2017 however went lacking in early Jan., and advocates concern she is a sufferer of the avian flu. (Photograph courtesy of Cal Birds)
