Peregrine Falcon
(Falco peregrinus)

Overview

Summary

© Gordon Court
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The Peregrine Falcon is well monitored in Canada on parts of its breeding grounds thanks to a targeted survey which recurs every five years. Peregrine Falcon populations declined precipitously in North America when DDT use became widespread in the early 1950s (White et al. 2002). By 1970, the species was extirpated in large parts of its range and had declined drastically in others. Since DDT was banned in North America in the early 1970s, the population increased dramatically due to the reintroduction of captive bred falcons. In 2007, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada assessed the species as Special Concern (COSEWIC 2007e). For further information on the pealei subspecies please see the separate account. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

See also:

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• eBird Canada 2018
• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

The widespread use of the pesticide DDT caused the dramatic decline of the Peregrine Falcon starting in the early 1950s, but the population has rebounded since DDT was banned in Canada in 1970 (White et al. 2002). The fostering of captive-bred birds began in Canada in 1975, and by 1998 over 1500 captive-bred birds had been released in Canada and 7000 throughout North America (White et al. 2002). These reintroductions supported the recovery of the species in southern Canada (Holroyd and Banasch 1993). A few reintroductions in the United States involved birds from Eurasian populations and concern has been voiced over potential genetic impacts. However, a genetic review of the Canadian population found <1% of falcons had non-anatum genes (Brown et al. 2007), because Canadian reintroduction programs only used birds of the anatum subspecies (Holroyd and Banasch 1993, COSEWIC 2007e). For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to view available recovery documents, see the SARA Registry.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Brown, J.W., P.J. Van Coeverden de Groot, T.P. Birt, G. Seutin, P.T. Boag and V.L. Friesen. 2007. Appraisal of the consequences of the DDT-induced bottleneck on the level and geographic distribution of neutral genetic variation in Canadian Peregrine Falcons, Falco peregrinus. Molecular Ecology 16:327–343.
• COSEWIC. 2007e. COSEWIC Assessment and Update Status Report on the Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa. vii + 45 pp. COSEWIC. 2007e. COSEWIC Assessment and Update Status Report on the Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa. vii + 45 pp. (Link)
• Holroyd, G.L. and U. Banasch. 1993. The reintroduction of the Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus anatum, into southern Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 104:203-208.
• White, C.M., N.J. Clum, T.J. Cade and W.G. Hunt. 2002. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. White, C.M., N.J. Clum, T.J. Cade and W.G. Hunt. 2002. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)