Peregrine Falcons Taken Off Florida's Endangered Species List

June 18, 2009 7:08 a.m. EST

Tallahassee, FL (AHN) - The peregrine falcon has been taken off Florida's endangered species list. The world's fastest bird, peregrines had dwindled to 324 pairs in 1975 due to the widespread use of harmful pesticides.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday approved the delisting of the peregrine, calling the combined efforts of wildlife managers and individual to save the species as "one of the best examples of wise conservation practices."

The agency will be implementing a management plan to continue to protect peregrines, which was delisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from its endangered list in 1999 but continues to be protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The Commission will also decide in September whether to allow peregrines for falconry.

The birds were one of several species severely affected by the use of pesticides including DDT from the 1940s to the 1970s. Their population had dropped from 20,000 to 650. There are now between 2,000 and 3,000 breeding pairs of American peregrine falcons in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

"The peregrine falcon is a success story showing what well-coordinated conservation can accomplish for a species," Robin Boughton, the agency's peregrine management plan leader, said in a statement. "The management plan ensures the continued success of peregrine falcons."

Peregrines are crow-sized birds with a wing span of about three feet and a notched beak. They usually have dark grey backs and a pale chest, and have distinctive sickle-shaped wings in flight. They fly at normal speeds of 40 to 55 miles per hour, but can reach over 200 miles per hour when they dive to attack a prey.

The birds mate for life and breed in the same territory for life, except in cases when a mate dies or is replaced by a stronger bird. They do not breed in Florida, but migrate through in the fall and sometimes stay during the winter.