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	Peregrine Falcons in 2001

City Falcons Take Center Stage

by Chris Martin, Senior Biologist

Days after learning to fly, young "M/Z" scans the Manchester skyline. Photo by Chris Martin Peregrine Falcons in New Hampshire experienced another strong breeding season in 2001. A post-DDT era record-high 13 peregrine territories were occupied in the Granite State this year, with a record-high 12 pairs laying eggs. Ten of these 12 nesting pairs successfully raised chicks, equaling another state record, and a total of 22 young fledged, which is slightly less than the 25 fledglings produced in both 1999 and 2000. Without a doubt, the most exciting news of the season came not from a remote cliff in our northern mountains, but from an office building in New Hampshire's largest city. Four chicks raised in Manchester For the first time ever documented in northern New England, peregrines nested successfully on a city building. At the New Hampshire Tower, an office building located near the Amoskeag Bridge in downtown Manchester, a one-year-old male, raised at Cathedral Ledge in Bartlett, and a two-year-old female, raised on a bridge in New York City, nested together and fledged four young. Audubon biologists, many local volunteers, and the New Hampshire Tower management staff, along with our federal and state wildlife agency partners, had been working for more than a decade to encourage peregrines to nest in the Queen City by installing and maintaining a nest box and by conducting year-round monitoring. How rewarding it is to realize that this long-sought goal has finally been realized! Peregrines will likely nest in Manchester for many years to come. In the months ahead, we hope to work with managers at the New Hampshire Tower to explore video technology options that might permit school groups and others to watch, enjoy, and learn from future peregrine nesting attempts. Nest visits and banding Rebecca Suomala and Jim Shimberg examine a 21-day old falcon chick just after banding it.. Photo by Chris Martin U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Audubon biologists again teamed with rock climbers to access peregrine nests, band young birds, and recover eggs and chicks that failed to survive. This year, we recovered 11 eggs that didn't hatch, as well as three chicks that died at or near their nests. A total of 21 New Hampshire nestlings received colored leg bands in 2001, extending an outstanding joint effort that has resulted in the banding of 95% (149 of 157) of the state's peregrine fledglings over the past ten years. A majority of our state's breeding peregrine population are now color-banded. So far this year, we have confirmed the whereabouts of 12 individual birds that were originally banded at Granite State nests, plus five other birds banded out of state that subsequently moved into New Hampshire. During 21 breeding seasons since 1981, when peregrines once again began nesting in New Hampshire after the DDT crisis, a total of 207 wild-hatched young have been produced in the state. Overall, nesting pairs have raised an average of 1.59 young per attempt, with a success rate of 68%. Reproduction during the past five years has been outstanding. Over 50% of all the young peregrines raised in the Granite State in the past quarter-century have been produced since 1997. Many people deserve thanks Monitoring and management of state-listed endangered Peregrine Falcons would not be possible without the time, talent, and funding provided by many individuals and agencies. Special thanks to Audubon's seasonal biologist Robert Vallieres and to the many volunteer observers from around the state for their steadfast dedication in watching active and potential nesting sites. Additional thanks to the professional climbing guides at the International Mountaineering Climbing School and to other individual climbers, who have made safe access to peregrine nests possible. We also greatly appreciate the support and assistance of friends and colleagues with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, and the New Hampshire Division of Parks.