Science Forum: Urban Raptors

By ⋅ April 27, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
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Birds of prey are thriving in places like New York, London, and Berlin, where raptors nest on skyscrapers and feast on pigeons. We talk to Canadian wildlife biologist David Bird, our guest in the latest World Science Forum, about the surprisingly good raptor habitat to be found in some major cities. (Photo: www.flickr.com/ photos/ animaltourism)


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MARCO WERMAN:  We’re talking about raptors in The World’s Science Forum.  The Science Forum is your opportunity to talk online with a featured science expert.  And right now you can talk to none other than David Bird.  Professor Bird is a wildlife biologist at McGill University in Montreal and he says that some cities around the world provide good habitat for raptors, at least for some species.

PROFESSOR DAVID BIRD:  South African cities have birds of prey like the black sparrow hawks.  Germany, there’s something like 15 pairs of Gosshawks breeding right downtown Hamburg in various green spaces and so on.  The city of London, England is now home to Paragon Falcons nesting on churches and large skyscrapers down there.  The skyscrapers are nothing more than cliffs to them.

WERMAN:  But it’s not just about the skyscrapers.  These cities also offer other benefits to birds of prey.  What kinds of benefits?  Well, you can find out by listening to a conversation between David Bird and The World’s science correspondent, Rhitu Chatterjee, and you can ask your own questions.  What can you do to protect raptors in your community?  To listen and to participate in The World’s Science Forum, go to the world dot org slash science.  The conversation continues through next week.


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Discussion

2 comments for “Science Forum: Urban Raptors”

  • Steven E. MacIntyre

    For many years I lived and worked in Manhattan commonly observing both Red Tailed Hawks and Peregrine Falcons there.

    The Red Tails were most often spotted from my apartment overlooking upper Central Park where they seemed to nest. Adult hawks were frequently to be seen gliding above the park or perched on the rooves of nearby buildings.

    The Peregrines were real city dwellers and one falcon family lived at the top of a tall building at Park Avenue at 57th Street which was visible from my office. One afternoon about a decade ago I was idly gazing out my 25th-floor window overlooking Park Avenue, watching a pigeon which was making its way uptown 20 stories above the cacophony of the midtown streets. Suddenly from on high to the left, in a burst of feathers a Peregrine struck the pigeon in the back. The pigeon struggled feebly, trying to shrug the falcon of its back, as the two birds, now attached to each other as one, continued the flight uptown. But the Peregrine gave the pigeon a couple of mighty shakes, as though she were shaking out a towel, and the pigeon went limp in a second release of feathers. Prey firmly in hand, the falcon then soared to her aerie 50 stories above midtown, presumably to share her catch with her young.

  • http://www.ripcd.org/ rip cd

    I have learned much knowledge from your article.Thanks for sharing.Birds of prey are thriving in places like New York, London, and Berlin, where raptors nest on skyscrapers and feast on pigeons.