Peregrine Falcons Return to SoCal Beach Park

Nesting Peregrines Come Back to Breed at Torrey Pines State Reserve

Oct 28, 2009 Don Kaiser

Peregrines came off the endangered species list in 1999, but it took 9 more years for even the fastest animals on Earth to re-establish their nests at Torrey Pines Park.

Torrey Pines State Reserve in San Diego, California is a beautiful coastal park established to protect its unique southern maritime chaparral ecosystem and preserve the majestic Torrey Pine, a tree that is found in only one other place on Earth, California's Santa Rosa Island.

Old timers who walk the beach at Torrey Pines talk about the good ol' days when Peregrine falcons could be seen nesting up in the cliffs along the beach. But during a period in the middle of the last century, the nests disappeared. With the exception of an occasional migratory tundra falcon, the Peregrines became very rare. Their disappearance from Torrey Pines and many other places (they became extinct on the east coat of the U.S.) is attributed primarily to the use of pesticides, particularly DDT, during that period. The Peregrine falcon became an endangered species and based on most local accounts, no nests were observed for approximately 60 years at the Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Peregrine Falcon Recovery

Banned pesticides, captive breeding and release programs, and other environmental efforts eventually led to the recovery of falcon populations and the Peregrine was removed from the official U.S. endangered species list in August of 1999. This was a good sign, but still there were no Peregrines nesting at Torrey Pines as late as 2006 despite more frequent sightings of these raptors also known as Duck Hawks.

Peregrine Falcon Return

Then in late Spring of 2007, two Peregrines were observed frequenting the cliffs along the beach at the park. Peregrines are characterized by sexual dimorphism and the female is about 30% larger than the male (tercel), so even an inexperienced observer could identify these two falcons as a potential mating pair. However, they apparently hooked-up too late in the season for a successful mating. But in the Spring of 2008, the male and female engaged in classic courtship behavior and were frequently observed mating in the park. Indeed, soon there were reports of nesting activity on the cliff and it wasn't long before baby chicks were peeking their heads out from the cliff-side aerie.

Peregrine Falcon Nostalgia

Peregrines mate for life and generally return to the same nesting spots each year so it wasn't surprising to see the falcons raise a new family this year (2009). Nowadays, the old-timers and most everyone else are all smiles as they walk along the beach at Torrey Pines enjoying the soaring Peregrine falcons and listening to their familiar screeching; just like in the good ol' days.

References

Cade, T.J., J.H. Enderson, C.G. Thelander and C.M. White, Eds., Peregrine Falcon Populations - Their management and recovery. The Peregrine Fund, Boise, Idaho, 1988. ISBN 0-9619839-0-6

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve:

http://www.torreypine.org/

Photographic documentation of the first successful nesting of Peregrine Falcons at Torrey Pines State Reserve in approximately 50 years:

http://www.warwingsart.com/DK/Robert_Horstmann/peregrine_falcons/index.htm

The copyright of the article Peregrine Falcons Return to SoCal Beach Park in Birds is owned by Don Kaiser. Permission to republish Peregrine Falcons Return to SoCal Beach Park in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.