COLUMBUS, Ohio — Peregrine falcons are flying through Midwest skies in greater numbers. In 2012 the Ohio Division of Wildlife (DOW) banded peregrine nestlings at 17 sites.

It monitored 36 territorial peregrine falcon pairs in Ohio, said Jennifer Norris, DOW state peregrine falcon coordinator. Biologists estimated 90 eggs were laid this year and 59 peregrines fledged (left the nest) from 26 nests across the state.

Peregrine falcon populations have bounced back since they were completely eradicated east of the Mississippi by 1968, Norris said. The pesticide DDT had caused healthy birds to lay eggs with shells so thin they were crushed by the weight of the adult bird. The species was endangered both federally and in Ohio.

The use of DDT was severely restricted in 1972 and in 1979 the Eastern Peregrine Recovery Plan was developed to restore the population.

“We hacked (brought young birds from other sites) about 46 peregrine falcons in Ohio from 1989 to 1993 and from that, our population in the Midwest has grown significantly,” Norris said. “In 1999 the bird was delisted federally and down-listed in Ohio to state-threatened in 2008.”

Young peregrines from this year’s hatch are now soaring over Cleveland, Akron, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Dayton, Lakewood, Lima, New Richmond, Warren, Wrightsville (Adams County) and Youngstown.

These young birds, as well as the territorial pairs that did not nest this season, could return next year, and perhaps nest successfully, Norris said. Although traditionally peregrines nested on ledges of high cliffs in remote areas, now they also nest in cities. They have adapted well to tall buildings and structures like bridges and smokestacks.

After a season of keeping watch over peregrine nests, Norris has stories to tell.  This year, one involved the peregrines nesting in Cleveland. The same pair has nested there for five years. Almost every year they fledge four juveniles. This year those four were thriving. Then, an intruding female came and killed the resident female, the mother of the juveniles.

“One of those juveniles ended up going to a rehabilitation facility,” Norris said. “It was knocked out of the nest by this intruding female, which was quite aggressive toward the juveniles in the nest. It was dramatic because they were close to fledging. This juvenile (a female) had some injuries, not life threatening, but it needed to go to rehab."

After the juvenile as treated and released, the peregrine crew put her in another nest on a bridge with another female juvenile and an unaggressive female. Unfortunately the bad-luck bird was frightened by the adults, fell off the bridge, was injured and went back to rehab. Again, she recovered.

“But we were struggling with what to do, where to put her because she needed to learn some peregrine behaviors – she was old enough to fly but didn’t have the skills to capture prey items,” Norris said. “She needed that adult influence.”

South Dakota has a hacking program similar to Ohio’s in the early 1990s. So, with generous help from the rehabilitators, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (DNR) got the bird into a nest there. They were happy to get a wild-born peregrine into their population and the Ohio crew was happy to have a place to put the bird.

Other Ohio juveniles have flown to Texas, New York, Michigan, Ontario and New Jersey. The DNR knows where those peregrines went because the Midwest birds are fitted with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bands as well as a color band which has a large number and letter combination watchers can see from a distance with binoculars, Norris said. They can identify the birds on each territory and where they came from.

The name peregrine means “wanderer.” Scientists put their level flight at 65 mph and their dives at approximately 200 mph. There’s a significant database on peregrine falcons – and its size, like their numbers, continues to grow.