Excerpt from Monitoring Plan for the American Peregrine Falcon: A Species Recovered Under the Endangered Species Act Thus, although Peregrines are still accumulating contaminants from their prey, the levels are currently low enough to allow for successful reproduction and expansion of the population. Nonetheless, the continual introduction of anthropogenic chemicals to the environment far outpaces research on their effects on wildlife. Peregrines, as predators, remain vulnerable to persistent environmental contaminants. In the final delisting rule, we recognized the possible threat that environmental contaminants pose to the sustained recovery of this species and stated we would include a contaminant monitoring component in the post-delisting monitoring plan. This component is found in the Contaminant Monitoring section below. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

In 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) implemented the first of five nationwide monitoring efforts for American Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus anatum) (Peregrine Falcons) as described in the Service's post-delisting monitoring plan (USFWS 2003). More than 300 observers monitored 438 Peregrine Falcon territories across six monitoring regions. Monitoring in the Southwestern monitoring region fell short of the monitoring goal, where 36 of the targeted 96 territories were monitored; efforts are underway to implement full-scale monitoring in that region in 2006. The five other monitoring regions surveyed sufficient territories to meet the statistical criteria described in the post-delisting monitoring plan. Our estimates of territory occupancy, nest success, and productivity were above the target values that we set in the monitoring plan for those nesting parameters. Additional data collected by this effort documented that the total number of nesting pairs of Peregrine Falcons is estimated at 3,005. Additional data show that 92% of pairs nest on natural substrates in all regions except the Midwestern/ Northeastern region, where only 32% nest on natural substrates. Our estimates of the nesting parameters and the additional data from across the United States indicate that the Peregrine Falcon population is secure and vital. The next coordinated nationwide monitoring effort is scheduled for 2006 (USFWS 2003).