Protect our peregrines
12:09pm Monday 10th March 2008
I LOVE the period from late March to mid-May because there is usually some sunshine and a breeze which makes the flight of the peregrine even more spectacular than usual.
This is the time for the birds to do a spot of courting which involves fantastic displays of acrobatics.
Their breeding sites are often used year after year and in the past this has made them vulnerable to human predators, especially shooters.
Their favourite sites are on cliff faces, but thanks to human activities they are now using quarry faces and tall buildings including churches, and blocks of flats and offices.
The peregrine is a very fast flier and in pursuit of the birds on which it feeds it can reach a diving speed in excess of 160 miles an hour.
The decline of the peregrine was not totally due to the birds being shot, but just after the Second World War, when crop production was improved by the indiscriminate use of herbicides.
These chemicals built up within the bird and resulted in females laying eggs with very thin shells. During incubation the weight of the bird crushed the eggs.
For centuries, the nobility were addicted to hawking and this led to a shortage of peregrines, which were regarded as the best species to hunt.
In some countries of the Middle East, hawking is still a going on and there is a shortage of breeding birds.
This accounts for the fact that a young peregrine can bring thousands of pounds on the illegal market and this is a real threat to our peregrines and nest sites need to be kept secret.