The ferruginous hawk, an endangered species in Alberta, breeds exclusively in the grasslands of North America. Availability of nesting sites has been identified as a key limiting factor of this...
Description
The ferruginous hawk, an endangered species in Alberta, breeds exclusively in the grasslands of North America. Availability of nesting sites has been identified as a key limiting factor of this species. Artificial nests poles (ANPs) were identified as a possible recovery action by the Alberta Ferruginous Hawk Recovery Team, however a number of questions were raised on how effective the installation of ANPs in the past have been in maintaining ferruginous hawks. The Ferruginous Nest Pole Inventory was completed in 2009, and included cataloguing the nest platforms and their state of repair, identifying their use by ferruginous hawks and other species, and evaluating any conflicts that their placement may have created for other species at risk. Of the149 poles evaluated, 45 had active ferruginous hawk nests. A number of issues were identified that may have caused poles not to be active through this inventory. ANP’s may be an appropriate recovery action for ferruginous hawks in areas...