How perfect - today there will be Falcons in the Super Bowl and tomorrow night (Monday February 6th) Falcons will be the focus of our Washington Ornithological Society meeting.
Our program will be: The American Kestrel: what?s causing the decline ofNorth America?s most charming falcon??
Speaker: Tate Mason
The American Kestrel is North America?s smallestfalcon, and one of the most widespread birds of prey in the Western Hemisphere.Unfortunately this historically common falcon has become a rare sight in manyregions of North America, where populations have been declining for decades.The American Kestrel Partnership, a project of the Peregrine Fund, aims toidentify why the species is in decline. In this talk, the current state ofKestrel conservation will be discussed with an emphasis on the use ofscientific research to make informed management decisions.

The Peregrine Fund was founded in1970 to restore the Peregrine Falcon, which was removed from the U.S.Endangered Species List in 1999. That success encouraged the organization toexpand its focus and apply its experience and understanding to raptorconservation efforts on behalf of more than 100 species in 65 countriesworldwide, including the California Condor, Aplomado Falcon, and AmericanKestrel in the United States.


Originallyfrom Seattle, WA, Tate has spent his life devoted to the outdoors. He earned anundergraduate degree in Biology from Western Washington University and aMaster?s in Raptor Biology from Boise State where he studied the impact ofanthropogenic noise on owl hunting behavior. As Education Director with ThePeregrine Fund, Tate works to make the science of conservation accessible to awide variety of audiences. Tate is currently based at the World Center forBirds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.
WOS meets at the Urban Horticultural Center next to the Union Bay Natural Area (Montlake Fill). ?Doors open at 7:00 and the program starts. Everyone is welcome.
[I love all falcons - Prairies, Peregrines, Merlins, Gyrfalcons and Kestrels and just for Sunday even those from Atlanta!!]?