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Northern Aplomado Falcon. Photo: FWS

(Washington, D.C. August 04, 2010) The Northern Aplomado Falcon will continue to be reintroduced in New Mexico as a result of a 10th Circuit Court, three-judge panel decision that sided with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in their effort to restore the species and against a legal challenge from the environmental group, Forest Guardians. The Circuit Court decision upheld an earlier, New Mexico District Court decision.



The FWS and The Peregrine Fund have been reintroducing the falcon from Texas to New Mexico for 20 years as a “Nonessential, Experimental” population pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. By proceeding in this fashion, the bird is protected as a threatened species when within federal lands, but only as “Proposed for Listing” on private or state-owned lands. This approach allows for current land practices and cooperative efforts with land owners to both continue.



Forest Guardians asserted that some sightings of Northern Aplomado Falcons in New Mexico (including a pair that successfully nested in Luna County in 2002) indicate a naturally-occurring population that should receive full ESA protection. Given that it is unreasonable to expect people to know the difference between the released birds and the naturally occurring ones, Forest Guardians asserted that the naturally occurring birds are being jeopardized by the experimental, non-essential status of the released birds. They petitioned the FWS in September 2002 to designate Critical Habitat for the falcon in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas on the basis that it was no longer extirpated from the United States. In subsequent years, other naturally-occurring falcons continued to be sighted. FWS contended that those sighting were of falcons dispersing into the area from Mexico, and would alone be unlikely to be able to repopulate areas in the Southwest. The court agreed.



Aplomado Falcons were once widespread in the Southwest. Because of habitat changes, pesticides, and other human impacts, their range was restricted and they were ultimately put on the Endangered Species List in 1986. The reintroduction effort has produced a growing population in Texas.



The birds are 15-17 inches in length, weigh 9-14 ounces, and live mainly on small birds and insects caught in the air. They are dark gray on the back, with a white upper body, a long banded tail and a black “cummerbund” breast stripe. They usually nest in abandoned, raptor stick nests and lay 2-3 eggs per year.

About American Bird Conservancy

American Bird Conservancy (www.abcbirds.org) conserves native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas by safeguarding the rarest species, conserving and restoring habitats, and reducing threats while building capacity of the bird conservation movement. ABC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit membership organization that is consistently awarded a top, four-star rating by the independent group, Charity Navigator. For more information visit www.abcbirds.org