During the 1971 reproductive season 134 prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) locations were visited. At 77 locations we were able to evaluate utilization, and at 57 sites we were unable to assess activity. Fifty-eight of the 77 sites supported at least one adult and 19 locations were totally inactive. At 29 locations where nesting attempts were initiated, 21 sites produced 61 young plus 8 eggs from which we were unable to obtain fledgling data. Statewide, we observed 75.3 percent reproductive activity. However, only 36 percent of the active sites were successful, and a resulting 2.29 young per nest were observed. We concluded productivity was below normal for the California population this judgment was based on the low number of initial nesting attempts and the low number of young per active site. A second year of field observation will be needed to evaluate these trends.
|
