A mother peregrine falcon named Carla circled above the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus, briefly landing near its towering windows before launching back into the air. With a wingspan of more than 3 feet, she darted around the building\u2019s familiar perch, watching closely.<\/p>\n
Behind the 40th-floor windows, wildlife experts from the National Aviary and the Pennsylvania Game Commission gathered. The curtains, usually drawn, had been opened, and the shades raised \u2014 signals Carla recognized immediately.<\/p>\n
From outside the glass, she peered in. Carla knew the routine. This was her third brood, and the bird knew the open shades could mean only one thing: Her babies were about to be banded.<\/p>\n
Last week, Patricia Barber, an endangered bird specialist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, tagged Carla\u2019s four chicks, attaching identification bands that will help researchers monitor their movements and survival as they mature.<\/p>\n
Today, peregrine falcons are a familiar sight nesting on bridges and skyscrapers across Pennsylvania. In the state\u2019s southwestern region, there are 16 known adult peregrine falcons and an estimated 14 chicks. Decades ago, the species had nearly vanished.<\/p>\n
Like bald eagles, peregrine falcons were devastated by widespread use of the pesticide DDT, which caused birds to lay eggs with shells so thin they often broke before hatching. They were endangered for more than 25 years.<\/p>\n
Need for speed<\/p>\n
Peregrine falcons typically lay between three and five eggs and are widely considered the world\u2019s fastest animal, said Robert Mulvihill, the National Aviary\u2019s ornithologist. Peregrines are one of three types of falcons found within Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re amongst the most aerially capable birds in the world. There are very few birds that fly anywhere near as fast as a falcon can fly. They have very long, pointed wings, and it\u2019s a design that is perfect for speed in flight,\u201d Mulvihill said.<\/p>\n
Peregrine falcons have been clocked at more than 200 mph.<\/p>\n
After being nearly wiped out by chemicals, the speedy falcons slowly recovered due to the work of wildlife specialists and Pennsylvania legislation.<\/p>\n
In 1999, the species was officially removed from Pennsylvania\u2019s endangered species list. In September 2021, Pennsylvania removed the bird from its register of threatened species.<\/p>\n
The recovery began after The Peregrine Fund, a nonprofit headquartered in Idaho, was founded in 1970, followed by the U.S. Environ\u00admental Protection Agency\u2019s ban on DDT in 1972.<\/p>\n
\u201cSociety decided these were things we valued, and we wanted them to be improved, and all of that set the stage for the recovery of peregrines,\u201d Barber said. \u201cThe peregrine community came together \u2014 and by that I mean conservationists, falconers, anyone that was interested in wild birds \u2014 and The Peregrine Fund bred as many peregrine falcons as they could.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Peregrine Fund successfully bred the birds in captivity and released more than 4,000 of them into the wild, according to its website.<\/p>\n
By 1989, a pair of peregrine falcons had returned to Pittsburgh for the first time in 33 years. They were spotted hunting among Pittsburgh\u2019s skyscrapers by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.<\/p>\n
For peregrine enthusiasts like Kate St. John of Oakland, the birds are easier to spot than many people realize \u2014 if you know where to look.<\/p>\n
So far this year, there has been peregrine falcon activity on several bridges in Allegheny County, including Pittsburgh\u2019s West End Bridge between the North Side and West End, the McKees Rocks Bridge between McKees Rocks and Stowe, the Spruce Run Bridge in Ben Avon, the Sewickley Bridge between Sewickley and Moon, the Tarentum Bridge between Tarentum and New Kensington, the George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge between East Pittsburgh and North Versailles, and the 62nd Street Bridge between Lawrenceville and Morningside.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland, the species also has been spotted around East Liberty Presbyterian Church and Duck Hollow, a section of the Swisshelm Park neighborhood along the Monongahela River.<\/p>\n
Bird watching<\/p>\n