USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

   

Current Status:

The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering delisting this subspecies. Although restricted in the United States and Canada, pesticides containing DDT continue to be used in Central and South American countries through which Arctic peregrine falcons migrate and spend winter months. Peregrines prey primarily on birds, many of which also migrate through and winter in Central and South America. Habitat contamination and destruction in these countries threaten peregrines and their prey.

Achievements:

With the introduction of DDT in the 1940s, Arctic peregrine falcons began to decline until by the mid-1970s their numbers had decreased to approximately 20 percent of historical levels. In 1973, the United States and Canada restricted DDT use, causing northern populations to increase. Some now approach historical levels, but others are recovering more slowly. The Fish and Wildlife Service conducts about 50 informal section 7 consultations and 2 formal ones annually, primarily in connection with Army Corps of Engineers permits, but also including the Bureau of Land Management and the Geological Survey.

Current Recovery Needs:

Recovery actions focus on monitoring occupancy rates, productivity, mortality, and contaminant levels, as well as determining migration routes and wintering areas.

Section 6 Funding and Activities:

Approximately $20,000 annually in section 6 funds have been used to survey areas where development is likely and where baseline data for Arctic and American peregrine falcons are lacking.

Partnerships

Bureau of Land Management: Since the early 1980s, the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service have cooperated on surveys along the Colville and Sagavanirktok Rivers in northern Alaska, two index study areas identified in the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Plan for the Alaska population. The surveys are providing information on falcon population numbers and productivity. Contaminant levels, migration routes, and wintering areas also are being studied.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game: The Department conducts surveys in areas of potential development to obtain baseline information on falcons.

Recovery Plan Status:

Plan approved 10/4/82.