Aplomado falcon how to#

After all, it is not the best place for an Aplomado Falcon to survive. If you are familiar with the landscapes of Central and South America, you know that much of the habitat there is composed of dense neotropical forest, leaving you to wonder what a grassland species is doing in thick forest. Prime real estate for an Aplomado Falcon includes grasslands, savannas, pastures, and shrub-steppe.

As a result, there is once again a breeding population of Aplomado Falcons in southern Texas.Īplomado Falcons are adapted to living in open habitats where songbirds and insects abound and where shrubs or trees, including tree yuccas like Spanish Dagger and Soaptree Yucca, are present for nesting. After 1952, there were no known Aplomado Falcons nesting in the United States – until The Peregrine Fund began reintroducing them into parts of their North American range in the early 1990s. Not too long ago, however, these agile, colorful falcons disappeared from much of their North American range. Learn about The Peregrine Fund's restoration project Where they liveĪplomado Falcons were once found in the southwestern United States including Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, into Central and South America all the way to Chile and Tierra Del Fuego at the southern tip of Argentina. Biologists work hard every year to replace old nest structures and put up new ones wherever an Aplomado Falcon pair is found. They have proven to be popular among the falcons, with most pairs choosing to nest in one of these structures rather than a bush, tree, or power pole.

The specially adapted structures have protective bars across the open front that allow the falcons in but keep nest predators, like caracaras or raccoons, out. In South Texas, biologists place artificial nest structures in Aplomado Falcon habitat. As a result, there is now once again a breeding population in the United States.Īpart from the captive breeding and release efforts, The Peregrine Fund has sought creative solutions to problems associated with the restoration of this species. More than 1,500 chicks have been released to the wild. After only a month or two, the falcons become independent and disperse, or move away from, the hack site.

Aplomado falcon how to#

It is during this time that the young birds also learn how to hunt. A field crew provides the falcons with food and monitors them daily to ensure their safety. This is a tough time for the young birds as they learn to fly and avoid predators. Biologists feed the young birds for the week or so that they remain inside the hack box, then it is time to open the door and let the falcons go free. Typically, the hack site consists of a platform on a pole or other tall structure and a box that protects the youngsters from predators. The young birds were released to the wild using a method called “hacking,” a falconry term for a process that allows birds of prey to become accustomed to their surroundings naturally right before they are ready to fly. Aplomado Falcon chicks that were produced at our World Center for Birds of Prey in Idaho were transported to Texas and New Mexico for release. The Peregrine Fund began experimenting with breeding captive Aplomado Falcons and releasing them to the wild in the 1980s.

The Northern Aplomado Falcon was last seen in the American Southwest in the 1950s, leaving its niche in the grassland ecosystem unfilled for decades.