The Peregrine Falcon also has a well-documented and successful restoration story.  According to the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program fact sheet, prior to the 1940’s approximately 375 breeding pairs of Peregrine Falcons nested east of the Mississippi River.  In Massachusetts, there were 14 known breeding pairs all located on natural cliffs.  In 1948, the then Massachusetts State Ornithologist, Archi Hagar, first documented that the breeding pair at Rattlesnake Ledge in the Quabbin Reservoir, had broken their eggs.

Mr. Hagar, had no way of knowing it then, but over the next decades scientist discovered that the widespread use of the pesticide DDT was causing birds of prey to lay thin shelled eggs that would break during incubation.  The last historically active nest in Massachusetts occurred in 1955, and by 1966 there were no breeding pairs left east of the Mississippi River.

In 1972 the use of DDT was banned in the United States and efforts initiated by Tom Cade, at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, started the national efforts to restore the Peregrine Falcon.  It would take until 1987 for the first successful modern nest to be established in Massachusetts.  As of 2015, this number has grown to 30 nesting pairs of Peregrine Falcons in the State.

Check out this interesting documentary entitled; The first successful breeding of PeregrineFalcons on non-man-made structures in eastern Massachusetts since their reintroduction, written for the Eastern Massachusetts Hawk Watch by a long-time friend of the Sanctuary.  Craig describes the many modern day obstacles and concerns that confront both the falcons and the volunteer efforts helping to secure their future.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the historical population in the US was roughly 3,875 nesting pairs.  By the time the first Peregrine Falcon recovery efforts began, the population was approximately 12% of that historical number.  In 1975 there were only 324 known nesting pairs left in the US.  The current population in North America is estimated between 2,000-3,000 breeding pairs.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology indicates that Partners in Fight estimates the global breeding population is 140,000 with only 17% of the population spending time in the US.  

While it may still be early, it's not too early to speculate that the pair of Peregrine Falcons observed hunting in tandem on two different occasions at the Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary on March 5th, may be intending to establish a breeding territory in the Rumney Marsh ACEC.  They have been observed together regularly during this winter.  According to the USFWS fact sheet, Peregrine Falcons typically mate for life, and usually return to the same breeding territory for the entirety of their lives.  According to the Mass Wildlife fact sheet, in our region, nesting locations are selected by the first of March.  That notwithstanding, the pair are young, barely out of adolescence.  There is still the chance that indecision will get the best of them and they will go elsewhere, or maybe worse yet, they are birds intending to spend the summer in the cooler climes further north.  If so, like our other winter raptors, the Short-eared Owl and the Northern Harrier, the time for their departure will be soon at hand.