by PAUL RAYNER

Students at Boissevain School received a special visit from a raptor making a comeback.

On May 14, Emma Stainton, Outreach Programs Educator with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, visited students at the school. With the help of an extra special guest, she discussed raptors in general, and peregrine falcons in particular, including their species particulars, habitat needs and what is being done to assist them.

As Stainton explained, the Canadian Peregrine Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to raptors at risk, created in 1997. They help biologists across Canada in the recovery and protection of the peregrine falcon and other raptors, as well as participate in educational programs.

Participating in Project School Visit, aimed at Grade 4 to 7 students and sponsored by Trans Canada Pipelines, Stainton began by engaging students in a definition of raptor. Not only are the Toronto-based basketball players, but they are birds of prey, carnivores who use talons to kill prey. They include eagles, owls and peregrine falcons. The peregrine, Stainton explained, has a long history with humans.

“When we’re talking peregrines,” she explained, “we have to remember they have been part of human life for 5,000 years. They were worshipped in ancient Egypt. They were reserved for dukes and kings and people like that for hunting. They are a species well respected by humans.”

Despite this respect, and the fact they are found nearly everywhere, they nearly disappeared in Canada. Named an endangered species, they suffered from an attempt to alleviate suffering in the world, and to improve agricultural situations.

As Stainton explained, the world began to use the insecticide DDT heavily in the 1940’s. This was encouraged to wipe out mosquitoes in tropical regions and prevent the outbreak of malaria. It was also picked up as an insecticide by farmers in more temperate climates as it could kill nearly any insect. It worked so well, more and more DDT was used. However, eventually the insects adapted.

“The chemical would never leave their bodies even though it didn’t kill them. It did not affect the insects. They lived happy insect lives, but it affected other animals.”

One of these was the peregrine falcon. The raptor only eats small birds, some of which ate insects. As the falcon is high up in the food chain, it was exposed to the highest amounts as it ingested a large number of infected birds. One of the results was to prevent the falcons from getting calcium to their eggs, which then broke while the birds incubated them. By the 1970’s there were less than 200 peregrines in Canada. As Stainton explained, that was half the population of Boissevain School.

The banning of DDT helped, as did the start of programs to breed the peregrines, including a site in Wainwright, Alberta. They are making a comeback, and in the last 10-20 years, they have found a new habitat.

“You see them nesting in large North American cities,” Stainton explained.

There are many reasons for this. For one, they are a cliff dwelling species, so the tall buildings work well for them. There are a lot of pigeons for food. There are no eagles or owls, the peregrine’s predators. As well, temperatures are warmer in cities, so they do not have to migrate during the winter. This saves them a dangerous trip to Central and South American nations that did not ban DDT.

“It is a great advantage to them to stay.”

The story of one such nesting pair in Etobicoke, Ontario, “Life on a Ledge” was left with the school to show students after a short introduction to the video was aired during the demonstration.

Eventually, the students were introduced to their special guest. Falon, a six-year-old female peregrine made her appearance out of her carrier cage. She comes from the breeding facility in Alberta, and has, as Stainton, explained, a “human imprint”. This means she was raised to believe she is human – she can fly, but is not afraid of people because she does not recognize a difference. Nonetheless, the audience needed to stay quiet and still so as not to startle her.

Stainton used the enthusiastic visitor to show some of the particularities of the species. The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on the planet, making speeds of 387 kilometers an hour. They can fold their wings in to make their hunting dives, known as stoops, and can grab prey right out of the air. In fact, their body design was used as a model for fighter jets. They also have a second eyelid, a nicitating membrane, which act as goggles, to protect their eyes, as do the black feathers underneath the eyes protect from sun glare. There are also baffles in the nasal passages to help reduce air pressure in bodies.

After Falon was finished and thanked for her part of the visit, Stainton asked students to draw pictures of peregrine falcons, or other raptors of choice. They could be sent to the foundation, which will use some for their web site. Although the foundation has done school visits before, Boissevain was their first school in Manitoba. As well as teaching about the peregrine falcon, Stainton left students with a parting message  about others like the burrowing owl.

“A lot of species of raptors will need your help in the future.”