Iconic Tower, Iconic Bird – Peregrines on the Campanile
Allen Fish
Berkeley
Thursday, March 21
6:30 p.m. refreshments,
7p.m. program
As Peregrine Falcons have recovered from endangered status in the 1990s-2000s, they have often been found nesting on bridges and skyscrapers. For the last two nesting seasons, a Peregrine Falcon pair has taken up residence on the Campanile on the UC Berkeley campus, fledging two chicks in 2017, and three in 2018. A team of citizen scientists led by UC Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) in cooperation with the East Bay Regional Park District and the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, has monitored the Peregrines, enhancing their nest-site, watching for threats, and serving as an information source for captivated CAL falcon-spotters. In 2019, the Cal Peregrine Team is working on getting a web-cam erected on the tower to deepen our knowledge of these urban Peregrines, and to widen interest in these charismatic falcons via the web.
Beyond their sheer magnetism — the athletic hunting flights of the adults and the clumsy antics of the fledglings – the Peregrines are a profound reminder of the ornithologists of a generation ago who walked a tight-rope between science and conservation activism to bring this species back from the edge of extinction. One of their critical conservation tools? The well-kept and meticulously-labelled egg collections of natural history museums, including our own Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.
Director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (ggro.org) since its founding in the mid-1980s, Allen Fish earned his bachelor’s degree at UC Davis, then returned to teach Raptor Biology there in the 2000s. He was honored with the Maurice Broun Award for achievements in raptor biology in 2003, and the Bay Nature Environmental Educator Award in 2015. A fourth-generation Berkeleyan with deep CAL roots, Fish lives near campus with his wife Allison Pennell, their two kids and a coonhound.…
Since 1997 Golden Gate Bird Alliance has partnered with the Port of San Francisco to enhance shoreline wildlife habitat at Pier 94, located along the south eastern bay shoreline, on property owned and operated by the Port of San Francisco. After completing successful wetland and beach enhancement projects, in 2013 Golden Gate Bird Alliance initiated habitat enhancements in the adjacent upland areas of Pier 94. Through creative partnerships and modest funding, Golden Gate Bird Alliance mobilized materials, equipment, and people to transform a mostly barren area of shoreline rubble and road into a viable place for native plants and wildlife. This project is a model for beneficial sediment reuse – using clean local “waste” sediment from mining, dredging, and excavation projects for habitat enhancement rather than disposal
The Tricolored Blackbird is a colonial breeder that is nearly endemic to California. Historically, these birds bred on wetlands in the Central Valley. As a result of the loss of 90 percent of the wetlands, Tricolors increasingly nest in agricultural fields. When nesting and farmers’ harvest schedules conflict high proportions of the Tricolor population are put at risk. Tricolored Blackbirds were listed as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act in April 2018 due to sharp, ongoing population declines. In this presentation Conservation Project Director, Samantha Arthur, will discuss Audubon California’s multi-pronged approach to save the Tricolored Blackbird. This approach includes creating new wetland habitat, working with dairy farmers to delay harvest until after chicks have fledged from nests, and advocating for protections under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts.
