Close up Peregrine Falcon – H. Nikkel

Morden, Manitoba – June 13, 2013— The Pembina Valley birds of prey migration peaked at an all-time high in 2013. A previous record count of about 13,200 in 2011 was easily surpassed in 2013 with just over 18,400 individuals counted.

The PembinaValley is a natural migration corridor for hawks, eagles and falcons which annually use the valley on their northward journey. Unlike many songbirds which travel at night, birds of prey or raptors as they are often called, are diurnal migrants using daylight hours to travel. The valley is an obvious topographical feature which birds of prey encounter during their northward flight over North Dakota. Raptors can take advantage of updrafts and thermals in the valley to soar and then glide long distances. This flight pattern is more energetically efficient than a constantly flapping flight.

The extended winter-like conditions during this year’s count appear to have delayed the migration of some raptors. Snow blanketed the valley well into April. By the end of March counters have usually tallied thousands of raptors and are busily tracking the peak of the migration. In 2013, however, just over 700 birds of prey had been spotted by 31 March. Numbers soon began to climb with April 3 being one of six days when the daily count surpassed 1,000 birds.

Seventeen species of migrating raptors were identified during the 2013 migration. The most numerous as usual was the Red-tailed Hawk whose numbers nearly topped 12,500 individuals. Second and third spots went to the Bald Eagle (1,868) and the Sharp-shinned

Hawk (1,591), respectively. Red-tailed Hawk counts in the PembinaValley continue to be, on average, the highest of any count site in North America.

Amazingly, 14 of the 17 raptors had record high counts for the valley. One of the most surprising counts was that of the Peregrine Falcon. In previous years, a high count of this falcon would have been seven. Unbelievably, however, in 2013, 210 were counted. On two days, over 40 Peregrines were counted by day’s end. This unprecedented number of Peregrines may be due to the fact that the migration count was extended into May. Normally, the count ends during the third week in April, when Red-tailed Hawk numbers dwindle to single digits. This year, however, Red-tail Hawks continued to post good numbers during late April.

Birds of prey coming from South America take longer to make it to Canada than those wintering further north. This appears to be the case not only for some Peregrine Falcons but also Swainson’s Hawks which winter in Argentina. Raptor experts suggest that those Peregrines migrating through the PembinaValley are of the tundrius subspecies which nests in Canada’s arctic regions.

Distant Peregrine Falcon – R. Hiebert

A Rocha, a nongovernment conservation organization, is the agency which coordinates the annual raptor count. Paul Goossen, the count coordinator, notes that the Pembina Valley count is one of about 200 raptor count sites in North America which contribute to a large database. Information from this database is used to assess how raptor species are faring on a continental basis.

About A Rocha: A Rocha is an international faith-based conservation organization which is active in 19 countries around the world. A Rocha has coordinated the PembinaValley Raptor Migration Project since 2005. In Manitoba, the organization is headquartered out of the A Rocha Pembina Valley Interpretive Centre southwest of Morden.

Contact: J. Paul Goossen

Volunteer project coordinator

PembinaValley Raptor Migration Project

A Rocha Prairie Canada

Phone: 204-822-2087

Email: pgoossen@mymts.net

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