Last week, I was walking around the neighborhood with a fellow who grew up on Thomas St. He was full of ideas and energy for making the neighborhood a better place, and we were dreaming about gardens and community centers and all sorts of things. He also knew that this area was once called the South Hills area which almost no one does now, especially after a recent google update removed the name from their maps.
Then we began talking about birds. This fellow likes to pay attention and naturally notices the birds of the area. He told me that when he was growing up, the South Hills area was full of large flocks of Rock Pigeons. Now we only see a few. After Grand Rapids started a Peregrine Falcon breeding program on the City Hall tower, numbers declined significantly.
Peregrine Falcons were introduced into Grand Rapids in the 1980s but only started nesting in the early 2000s. Students from Grand Rapids Community College have been keeping track of their sightings and keeping a blog about falcons nesting on the tower of the city courthouse.
It's incredible to me how human actions can transform the urban ecology. Of course, more study and fact checking would be needed to say that the presence of these falcons was the sole cause of the decline of the pigeon population. But we do have the power to make drastic changes, for better or worse. We need to be careful to take the time to understand how one part is related to another, but we also have the opportunity take the small steps to establish more life, to invite more beauty.
To get regular updates on how local falcons are doing, check out this Grand Rapids Falcon Blog.
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