Although peregrine falcons have never been a common species, they formerly bred throughout the Midwest. There are documented breeding records for eleven of the 12 Midwest states, where they nested along the bluffs of rivers such as the Mississippi, along lake cliffs and shores, in tree snags, the ledges of large trees, and occasionally in urban areas. They may have nested in Ohio near Grand Lake St. Mary’s, but there are no documented records of it.

In the 1930’s and 1940’s surveys located more than 350 pairs east of the Mississippi River. Then the pesticide DDT began to be used to control lice and mosquitoes, and later to control crop-eating insects. By the early 1960’s there were no peregrine falcons known to be nesting in the Eastern United States, and the population was reduced by 90% in the West.

The DDT affected the reproductive ability of peregrines, bald eagles, and other birds, often causing eggshells to be so thin they broke under the weight of the parents trying to incubate them. In 1962 Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring warning of the dangers of such pesticide use. Although it was another ten years before the EPA banned the use of DDT, if not for Carson’s efforts, it may have taken much longer for the ban, and been too late for the peregrines.

In order to restore the peregrine population, the Peregrine Fund was started at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Birds were bred in captivity and the young placed in hack boxes in suitable areas until they became used to their surroundings and were ready to fly. They were then released, but were fed from the hacking area until they were able to hunt successfully and leave on their own. The Eastern Peregrine Recovery Plan was started in 1979; the Midwest joined later. It was thought that 6-7 peregrine chicks would need to be released each year for two years in order to establish one breeding pair. The goal was to re-establish a wild population in many of the traditional wild sites and to establish an urban population.

In Ohio the first known successful peregrine nesting was in the late 1980’s in Toledo when a pair raised young on the top of the Commodore Perry Hotel. The Ohio Division of Wildlife joined the Midwest Peregrine Recovery Project in 1989 when it hacked birds in Columbus. Hacking is a process where birds are bred in captivity or brought from another location to a specific release site, placed in boxes, and fed there until they are used to their surroundings and ready to fly. When they are released from the boxes, food is put out for them until they are able to hunt successfully and leave on their own.

In 1990 and 1991 birds were hacked in both Columbus and Cincinnati. Hacking was scheduled to begin in Dayton in 1992. It was not necessary, however, because two birds were already there, having come on their own: Mercury, hacked in Cincinnati in 1990, and Rachel, hacked in Columbus in 1991. They mated, but had no eggs or young that first year. They raised two young in 1993 on the Lazarus building, but the next year, 1994, Rachel was not to be seen. Her remains were found several years later in a building where she had become trapped. With her absence, a female from Baltimore, MD, settled in.

Mercury and Baltimore had no young their first year together, but raised sixteen from 1995 through 1999. Then the Lazarus building was imploded along with their nest site, so they moved to the Liberty Bank Building in 2000. Unfortunately their newly hatched young disappeared there, perhaps down a storm drain. When they moved to the Fifth/Third Building in 2001, they once again raised three young. In the summer of 2001 Baltimore was badly injured and later died. Another female appeared in the spring of 2002, Snowball, who was banded in Cleveland in 2000.

Mercury and Snowball chose a new nest site, a box on the AT&T Building, where they raised three young in 2002, the first year for Dayton’s Falcon Cam. In 2003 they had two young, named Orville and Wilbur, in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight. There were four young in 2004, three in 2005, and four in 2006. Then in 2007 Snowball disappeared leaving 17 year-old Mercury with three nestlings to care for alone, which he did. Over the years, Mercury raised 40 young in Downtown Dayton, but was not seen after 2007.

In 2008 two new birds appeared, Daniel, banded in 2005 in Cincinnati, and an unbanded female, now nicknamed Dayton. Daniel and Dayton used the box on the Liberty Bank Building and raised two young. They are still here in 2009, so we hope it will be another successful nesting season in Dayton.