Date: March 26, 2006
Contact: Bruce Connery, (207) 288-8726
Peregrine falcons have again been observed defending nesting territories and engaging in breeding behavior at the cliff above Valley Cove on Somes Sound in Acadia National Park, Superintendent Sheridan Steele announced today. The species is listed as an Endangered Species under the Maine Endangered Species Act.
In order to protect the nesting birds from inadvertent disturbance or harassment, the cliff area and trail is closed to all visitor and operational activities. The closure includes the northern section of the Flying Mountain Trail, which lies at the base of the cliff that is located on the eastern side of St. Sauveur Mountain. The trail is clearly marked with signs identifying the area of the trail that is closed, the dates of the closure, and a map that delineates the area of the closure. Trails will remain closed until approximately five weeks after chicks take their first flights, or fledge, from their nests. The opening of the closed area is expected in late July or early in August. Additional notices about the closures will be posted at all appropriate parking areas and trail heads and junctions with more detailed information available at park visitor contact stations or centers at park headquarters. If park biologists determine that a nesting attempt has failed at one of these sites later this spring or early in the summer, the park will cancel the closure and the areas and trails will be opened.
Research has shown that nesting falcons are particularly vulnerable to human disturbance originating immediately above the nesting area or directed at the nest site. Continued disturbances can lead to chick mortality or complete nest failure, which further slows the recovery of the species in Maine.
In 1991, the first pair of peregrine falcons nested successfully on the east face of Champlain Mountain. A second pair of falcons established a nest site on Beech Cliffs above Echo Lake in 1995, and a third pair of falcons established a nesting territory at Jordan Cliffs in 1996. Mount Desert Island's falcon pairs have become the foundation of Maine's peregrine falcon recovery program with the fledging of nearly seventy chicks over the last 15 years.
The peregrine falcon was placed on the endangered species list in the early 1970s because pesticides such as DDT coupled with habitat loss and other human disturbances had caused the peregrine population to decline throughout North America and disappear in the northeastern United States before the 1960s. The federal listing protected the remaining birds and their nesting cliff sites in addition to initiating an international captive breeding and reintroduction program. Acadia National Park was selected to be one of the reintroduction field sites in Maine and for the Northeast. The reintroduction program began in 1984 using a method known as hacking. This method places and rears young captive-bred peregrines on suitable cliffs in hope that the cliff and area is “imprinted” upon the young birds and that they return to the area as adults and establish a breeding population. Jordan Cliff on Penobscot Mountain overlooking Jordan Pond was selected as the hack site and served in this role for three springs beginning in 1984. In 1999, the peregrine falcon was removed from the list of species receiving federal protection under the Federal Endangered Species Act. At that time populations in most recovery regions of the United States had attained or surpassed most of the objectives identified in Regional Recovery Plans developed by states in concert with the Fish and Wildlife Service. These recovered populations will be monitored closely by states and the FWS for approximately the next 12 years to ensure that populations remain stable or increase.
The park will announce the reopening of the closed area and trail when the park and the State Endangered Species biologists determine that human activities will not disturb the young birds.
