Western CT Bird Club: The Return of the Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) was a rare breeder in Connecticut from 1850 to 1940, with only four known nest sites on trap rock ridges in the Connecticut Valley Lowlands. Peregrines also bred on the Traveler’s Tower in Downtown Hartford from 1943 to 1948, the last published nesting record in CT in the pre-DDT era. By the mid-1960s, peregrines had become extirpated east of the Rocky Mountains, and the Eastern Duck Hawk (Falco peregrinus anatum) was extinct. However, by the 1990s, peregrines returned as breeders in the northeast through reintroductions, with the Traveler’s Tower hosting a nesting pair beginning in 1998. Today, there are at least 14 known territorial pairs in Connecticut, on buildings, bridges, and a small number of trap rock ridges.

This presentation will consider the life history strategies of peregrines, including sexual dimorphism, gender roles, territoriality, nest site selection and preparation, behavior (resting, preening, stretching), foraging and food sources, mating, egg-laying, care of nestlings and fledglings, dispersal of young, floater peregrines, site fidelity, and longevity. This illustrated presentation draws on Steve’s twenty-five years of observing and studying peregrines at West Rock Ridge in Woodbridge, Connecticut and East Rock Park in New Haven.

Steve Broker’s career in science education has included high school teaching of physical and life science, university administrative positions at Wesleyan’s Graduate Liberal Studies, and Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, as well as various positions at Albertus Magnus College, Yale University, University of New Haven, and Quinnipiac University. He has studied the ecology and diversity of birds for the past forty years. Steve is a past president of the New Haven Bird Club and of the Connecticut Ornithological Association. He has been the statewide compiler of the CT Christmas Bird Count for 34 years and writes the yearly review article for publication in the state Journal of Ornithology. His field work includes long-term studies of breeding Peregrine Falcons and Common Ravens in Connecticut and marsh birds on Outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Since Audubon’s Bent of the River Sanctuary is closed due to extensive damage from hurricane Ernesto, we will not be able to hold our meeting in the barn. This is sad – it has become a tradition to hold some of our meetings there, but the meeting will happen as planned but on Zoom.
A link will be sent to the membership on Tuesday 9/17.
Contact Angela Dimmitt at angeladimmitt@aol.com.