Hilton gains unexpected visitors

My husband teases me about being a "tree hugger."

It's true that I belong to several environmental groups, including Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, World Wildlife Federation and the National Audubon Society.

The September/October issue of The Rock Wren, a newsletter from the Red Rock Audubon Society, included an article about the American peregrine falcon by Cris Tomlinson, a wildlife biologist with the Nevada Division of Wildlife and a member of the Red Rock chapter.

The peregrine falcon had disappeared from most of the western United States by the 1970s as a result of eggshell thinning linked to the pesticide DDT. Under the auspices of the Endangered Species Act, a peregrine falcon recovery plan was formulated with the goal of at least five breeding pairs in Nevada.

To assist in this goal, the Nevada Department of Wildlife released several juvenile peregrine falcons in Ruby Valley in Elko County, as well as on urban structures in the Las Vegas Valley, from 1984 through the early 1990s.

Since then, the Nevada Division of Wildlife and the National Park Service increased survey efforts for peregrines in anticipation of a population expansion. Through the late 1990s, 10 new territories were discovered, all in Southern Nevada.

Similar releases were documented in other states and, in 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the peregrine falcon from the Endangered Species List.

The culmination of the recovery plan requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement a system in cooperation with individual states to monitor the status of the birds. The plan put into place this year requires each state to sample a portion of the bird's known territories on a three-year rotation, starting this year and continuing through 2015.

This year, 12 known territories were surveyed in Southern Nevada and four new sites were discovered. Another territory was discovered in Eastern Nevada. All of these were occupied by at least one adult bird. Young were found at five of the sites, one of which is on the roof of the Las Vegas Hilton hotel, where four young fledged this year.

Tomlinson told me that it is the first year the department has documented the nesting at the Hilton since "`93 or `94, when we first discovered peregrines nesting there."

Although the birds have nested at the Hilton since then, wildlife staff had no reason to interfere with the birds.

"This year, one of the the nestlings had a bruised wing," Tomlinson said, so the chick was retrieved and treated, then released into the wild. He said that would be the only time the biologists would have any contact with the peregrines.

Tomlinson said peregrine falcons are fiercely protective of their eyrie (nest), especially when there are young present, and the birds have been known to dive bomb anyone they perceive as a threat.

"Every time workers go up to fix a sign or do some work on the outside of the hotel near the eyrie, they have to put up with a predator diving at them," he said. "We tell them the peregrines will be threatening for that period of time when the nest is occupied, but it won't be as bad once the young are gone."

It takes about 45 days from the time the falcons nest until their young are raised and fledged, according to Tomlinson.

Cullen West, spokesperson for the Hilton, said the pair seems to nest at the Hilton every couple of years and then migrates once the chicks are raised.

"We peacefully coexist," West said.

Would that we all could do the same.

• On August 16, I reported on a dispute at Sunrise Villa IV involving Mae Roy and her quest to install shutters on her townhome unit. I incorrectly reported that the president of the homeowners association gave Roy written permission on Jan. 21 to install shutters. The then association president verbally told homeowners at the complex in January that they could take whatever measures they needed to secure their homes.

Carmel Hopkins, Real Estate Product Manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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