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Reverence for Raptors Page 3 of 4 Describe the data-collecting process. We set up four blinds in the headlands hills, far from the trails and hikers. We capture the raptors here, we quickly band them to keep track of where they're going and then we release them so that they can continue on their journey. The capture is extremely thrilling -- it is like fly-fishing. We use pigeons and starlings as lures to get the hawks to fly into our nets. Many of us are uncomfortable with the use of live lures, so we've developed a mechanical lure as an alternative, but this is presently only 3o percent to 4o percent effective. Some volunteers find it extremely rewarding to band the hawks, because you get to hold them, and releasing them back into freedom is also a thrill. Holding hawks? Isn't that dangerous? Yes. Raptors have incredibly powerful talons that can drive down into the bone. We instruct our volunteers in how to handle the hawks carefully, but accidents still happen, especially when we get overconfident. I got nailed once. I was careless shifting grips, and the hawk buried one talon in my wrist and the other talon punctured an inch deep into my hand. I had to let it see freedom, and then wait until it wanted to fly away. Each species reacts differently. Ared-tail might hold still for a while, but a Cooper's hawk is never passive. It's always looking for a way to harm you. What do you think of falconry? Do you approve of the sport? I don't have a problem with falconry if it's done responsibly, but there are some people in our organization who say that it's never a good idea to take raptors out of the wild. All of us do owe a lot to the peregrine-falcon reintroduction program that was started in Santa Cruz in 1972, and many of the folks that worked on that were falconers In 1972, there were only two wild peregrines in California, but now there are i5o. The peregrine-falcon reintroduction program took peregrine eggs out of the wild, bred them safely in captivity and then returned them into their environments. Several peregrines now live in San Francisco. There are two pairs nesting on the Oakland Bay Bridge, another pair on the Golden Gate Bridge and another pair nesting high in a building in San Francisco. Peregrine falcons are considered to be the fastest birds -- they can reach speeds of i8o to 22o miles per hour in their dives. They are sleek, with huge, very dense breast muscles. http://www.sf~ate.com/cei-bin/article.cvi~filP=/o/a/DMZ/n5~~~~„rt,",~.,;.,,.,1 T1TT D. a.,....-~ 11/~innn~