Raptors in the Concrete Jungle

You’ve heard the gossip; you’ve seen the headlines. In recent years, Bay Area Bald Eagles built nests in a school yard in Milpitas, in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, and on an Alameda golf course. Peregrine Falcons have called UC Berkeley’s Campanile Tower home along with other buildings and bridges from San Jose to Mill Valley. Osprey nests line the East Bay shoreline from Hayward to Vallejo, and as many as eight other raptor species breed annually in our municipal midst! Isn’t this wonderful?

Well ??" yes and no. City living isn’t always a bed of roses for a bird of prey. The list of hawk headaches is long. Think about wires, windows, poisons, cars, electrocution, entanglement, and disease. In his August 20th talk, ecologist Allen Fish will give accounts of the real lives of Bay Area raptors, both their feats and their fiascos. But he also raises a key question: now that raptors are in our cities, how might we all do a better job - from city-planning to gardening - to benefit birds of prey?

Attend in person or see weblink to watch online.