The falcon: More than just a big bird
There are a couple things we should know about falcons.
One, they can nest on the ledges of skyscrapers just as easily as on a cliff in the wilderness.
Two, because finding food is hard and fighting other predators is harder, many don't live past their first year.
Three, they're smarter than hawks.
And four, they can be seen flying in Illinois.
Traci Brandenburg, a conservation education specialist for Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation in Dundee Township, knows all this and more. She hopes to pass her knowledge onto students in classes she'll teach in the months to come.
After studying falcons and other birds of prey for years, she's become an expert, or master falconer, on them. Before working at the private Route 25 wildlife complex, she was employed at the Spring Brook Nature Center in Itasca. And before and during that job, she studied falcons.
Brandenburg is more than willing to help young people learn more about them, along with owls and hawks.
"We hope to increase falcon awareness in the area. Not all falcons are big birds with wide wing spans," she said. "The American Kestrel falcon is small and has a wing span of only 18 inches wide."
Those are the common types many Illinois residents may have seen but mistaken for other types of birds.
"The Peregrine falcon has the large wing span of about 3 feet wide. It can fly up to 220 mph in a dive," she said.
And when it's diving, it's usually going for a weak or sick bird to eat.
She and other foundation employees plan to expand their education program to include falcons and other birds of prey. But those programs are not open to the general public.
Her students attend elementary, middle and high schools. Lessons they learn are not only about wildlife, but the environment in general.
"We have programs such as the Mighty Acorns in which we'll hike with students and identify native plants on the property here," Brandenburg said.
When they expand the lessons to birds of prey, no doubt she will explain that many are protected by federal laws so they are not hunted and pushed into extinction. Those laws are far reaching.
"Many people don't know it's against the law to bend over and pick up a feather from most birds, including cardinals," she said. "That was enacted to keep people from killing birds just for their feathers."
Another fact about falcons: They can be trained to perch on a person's arm and go after food that has been thrown up in the air. But they also can easily fly away and not return if they don't like the food or if it's no longer available to them.