Falcons flying again in Jersey

Monday 30 June 2014

Peregrine falcons seem to be thriving once again on the north coast of Jersey. Staff at the National Trust have managed to tag a pair of the rare birds for the first time since they became extinct in the island.

The peregrine falcon was once common in the British Isles and Europe, but began to die out due to persecution and the use of pesticides that caused a fatal thinning of their eggs’ shell. The disappearance of peregrines on the coastal cliffs of Jersey at the end of the 1950’s may have been caused by the same reasons.

The ban on the pesticide DDT, and the legal protection awarded to the species, allowed it to recover world-wide and eventually make a comeback to Jersey, where a new breeding pair was found in the year 2000. Since then, other pairs have settled on the cliffs of the north and west coast. The falcons have been given the Amber Status of conservation, which reflects the small yet seemingly stable population

This year the island's population stands at seven pairs of Peregrine falcons, of which five are found on the north coast (two of them on Trust land and two others at Sites of Special Interest). So far this year only four out of the seven pairs have bred successfully, having raised three chicks each, which have already fledged. Up until now only fledglings that got themselves into trouble and had to be rescued had been fitted with the metal rings, but this the first time since peregrines returned to Jersey that a team of experts has been able to monitor a nest and ring the chicks.

The information from bird-ringing projects helps scientists to learn about issues such as migration, lifespan and breeding ecology.