SAN FRANCISCO, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Biologists with the University of California Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group (SCPBRG) are preparing to release three young peregrine falcons into the wild along the Santa Cruz County coastline tomorrow. The peregrines were rescued earlier this year by the SCPBRG from perilous locations on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The SCPBRG has been caring for the eyases with the help of a foster peregrine mother and now the young falcons have grown strong enough to cautiously stretch their wings and fly for the first time.
The release this Saturday is the beginning of a two month process during which the SCPBRG will still support the young peregrines and provide food at the release site until they are able to hunt on their own. The youngsters will also wear a radio telemetry device so the SCBPRG can monitor their location until the device falls off after a few weeks.
One of the young peregrines known as "Little G" is the offspring of San Francisco's famous falcons George and Gracie. She was still developing inside her egg when she was rescued from the Bay Bridge on March 30. Two other eggs were rescued that day. One egg was never viable and the other eyas died from complications soon after hatching. Most peregrines fly for the first time when they are between 41 and 43 days old. "Little G" will turn 42 days old this Saturday.
The other two falcons being released this Saturday were produced by another peregrine couple that nested on the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. Those two peregrines had already hatched on the bridge when they were rescued about two weeks ago.
After George and Gracie's clutch of three eggs was rescued from the Bay Bridge in March, the peregrine pair returned to a familiar nest site on the PG&E building in downtown San Francisco and laid one more egg before ending their season. That egg was also rescued by the SCPBRG and just produced a healthy new eyas this past Tuesday. By the time this baby peregrine is ready to fly for the first time, its older sister "Little G" will still be returning to the release site in Santa Cruz for food. The two siblings should have a chance to get to know each other before they transition into wild independence.
PG&E first teamed up with the SCPBRG when biologists began noticing peregrine falcons using PG&E's downtown skyscraper as a perch in the mid 1980s. The SCPBRG placed a nest box on the ledge of the 33rd floor of the PG&E building with hopes that someday peregrines might nest there. Finally in 2003 George and Gracie called San Francisco's urban wilderness home when they selected PG&E's building as their nesting site. In 2005 PG&E installed a popular webcam just outside the falcon's nest box, so biologists and falcon fans alike could observe the endangered peregrines and learn more about their behavior through the Internet.
This year PG&E made a $35,000 contribution to the SCPBRG to help cover the costs of the peregrine "nestcam" and the Bay Bridge rescue effort. PG&E's donation will also help fund the SCPBRG's educational outreach program which each year educates 8,000 to 10,000 students in grades K-12 about science, nature and careers in science.
Peregrines are both fully protected and endangered species in California. The peregrine population declined to zero known nesting pairs east of the Mississippi, and just two known nesting pairs in California by 1970. Today, there are an estimated 250 peregrine falcon nesting pairs in California.
For more information about Pacific Gas and Electric Company, please visit http://www.pge.com/
For more information about the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, please visit http://www.scpbrg.org/
