Species Assessment:
Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus)

The 10-year migration count trends for Prairie Falcon suggest stable and increasing populations across its range as three of the four count sites in the West reported stable counts and one reported increased counts (see pie charts and trend maps below). Manzanos, New Mexico, reported the highest average yearly count at 2,867 individuals, which was stable. Twenty-year count trends (not shown) also reflect a stable population (West Region: 3 stable, 1 decrease). Winter survey data from the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) show mostly stable 10-year trends range-wide with the annual percent change in population reported to be 0.67%. However, British Columbia reported an almost 3% decrease in CBC observations during the same span. The Prairie Falcon is a species of Least Concern, designated by IUCN red list. The species is vulnerable to habitat loss in nesting areas because the number of cliff nesting sites is finite and nonrenewable. It is also vulnerable to human disturbances at nesting sites and loss of prey availability due to agricultural practices. Efforts to reintroduce this species to areas of Alberta and California where it had been extirpated were made in the last 20 th century.

×