![]() ![]() “In the late 80s and early 90s, they used to bring 20 to 30 kestrels from the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station,” Weldy said. The numbers do not include raptors brought to local animal hospitals that are too sick to save and are euthanized.īirds of prey are routinely trapped and relocated from the wildlife refuge at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, to prevent them from preying excessively on rare and endangered species – least terns, clapper rails, snowy plovers.īut trapping statistics also show a decline, for example, among American kestrels. The center released 184 rehabilitated birds in 2005, a banner year. That “debilitation” is suggestive of a scarcity of prey and of hunting territory for the raptors, he said. Weldy, who runs the Orange County Bird of Prey Center in Silverado Canyon, says the numbers of raptors brought there for treatment also has been dropping steadily over the years – and that among those brought to him, more seem to be suffering weakness or starvation with no visible injuries. “That type of trend is what we’ve seen all across Orange County, and into San Diego County, with a few minor exceptions in a few localized areas,” Thomas said. He has noted a decline in red-shouldered hawk nests as well. In the past two years, Thomas has seen only two nests. In most years, there would also be four or five active red-tailed hawk nests at Starr Ranch. And in the past three years, Thomas said, it was three to 10 birds. The species hit hardest so far include red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, kestrels, barn owls and white-tailed kites.Īt the Starr Ranch Sanctuary in eastern Orange County, a stretch of undisturbed native habitat monitored closely by biologists, 35 to 60 barn owl chicks would be banded in a normal year of nesting.īy three years ago, the number had dropped to about 15. Thomas, Bloom and Weldy say preliminary numbers so far seem to back up their fears, but that much more extensive survey work must be done to determine the true extent of the problem. “We have seen what appears to be a loss of adults, too. “It’s not necessarily because adults are just not having kids,” Thomas said. Successful hatching of raptor chicks, and survival of those chicks to adulthood, also appears to be declining at an alarming rate. The drop in numbers appears to be affecting almost all raptor species, as well as their prey, and the scientists worry that climate change could be helping to drive dramatic changes in habitat that are harming the birds.īloom and raptor researcher Scott Thomas, who track success and failure of nesting raptors, say they are increasingly seeing raptor nesting sites that have been occupied for decades turning up empty. The question is, is this natural? Because in 40 years of monitoring I have not seen it look this bad – not across so many species in the same geographical area.” “What we’re observing here is an advanced degree of ecosystem decay,” said Pete Bloom, who has trapped, tagged and studied Orange County raptors since 1970. They say raptors in Orange and San Diego counties, and perhaps across Southern California, appear to be suffering a variety of harmful environmental changes that are happening all at once: reductions in available prey, drought, West Nile virus and continuing loss of habitat because of expanding human presence and large, destructive wildfires. Weldy, who has treated and rehabilitated raptors for more than 20 years, is one of several raptor experts in Orange County who say they are seeing a disturbing trend: bird of prey numbers plummeting, long-inhabited nest sites empty, and far fewer chicks hatching in the nests that remain. “This one is real skinny and debilitated,” Weldy said as he handled the bird, one of nine ailing birds of prey now recovering at his animal hospital in Lake Forest. The red-tailed hawk showed no sign of injury, but it was brought, weakened and starving, to veterinarian Scott Weldy for treatment.
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