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Peregrine Falcons are Back!

© Christina Coruth

Early in January, a local news broadcast caught my attention. The WMUR news camera was aimed at a man who was peering through a telescope, on a busy downtown Manchester sidewalk. Passersby stopped to see what could possibly have captured the man's attention on that frosty winter day. The camera panned upward. Silhouetted against the sky sat a Peregrine Falcon atop the New Hampshire Tower building. Later it was revealed that the man, Chris Martin, was the Senior Biologist of the Audubon Society of NH. He had braved the cold every day to observe and record the bird's activities. The Audubon Society had installed a nesting box on the building many years earlier, which has remained unused. With the aid of his telescope, Martin was able to identify the bird's band. It had been banded in New York.

This particular bird wasn't the first peregrine attracted to the top of a downtown Manchester building. Over the past few years, there have been many peregrines that have visited Manchester - some sighted only a few times while others stayed a few months. The most famous was a female named Alex. She made downtown Manchester her winter home for 11 years. Unfortunately, the winter of 1997-1998 was the last time she was seen. No one knows why she stopped her winter visits. However, since the lifespan of a peregrine in the wild is 12 to 15 years, it is surmised that Alex may have died.

So, why would anyone brave the cold to keep a check on one bird of prey in Manchester?

The peregrine, one of the swiftest of all birds, nearly became extinct. Once well represented in North America, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added it to the endangered species list in 1970. At that time, the peregrines had disappeared from the eastern part of the US and their numbers in the west had been reduced to a fifth of their normal population. Only 324 nesting pairs remained in North America by 1975.

The main culprit was the pesticide DDT. Peregrines feed on smaller birds, which ingested the DDT. The DDT caused the peregrines to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke during the incubation period. Unable to reproduce, their numbers began to dwindle.

Banning DDT was a good first step. However, peregrine numbers had plummeted so far, that the ban was not enough to save them. A determined effort by the US and Canada saved the peregrine from extinction in the Western Hemisphere. In both countries, Wildlife Services teamed up with Universities and private organizations to bring the populations back. A multifaceted approach was developed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed a plan that included identification and preservation of the peregrine's breeding and wintering habitats, the reintroduction of the bird through captive breeding and release programs, and the prevention of human interference.

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