Behaviour

Peregrine falcons treat their babies with such gentleness and kindness at the nest, we might assume they have the same care and emotions toward their young as we humans do.  This is not so.  Peregrines are very different.  Here’s how:

Peregrine falcons are single territorial, top predators.  Those that migrate live alone more than 8 months of the year, spending only 16-18 weeks with a mate raising a family.  Non-migratory peregrines, such as those in Pittsburgh, stay on territory alone or as a mated pair.  No other peregrines are allowed in the territory, not even their own offspring.

Peregrines have no long-lasting “love” for their young.  Parents care for their nestlings, then teach them to hunt after they’ve had feathers necessary for flight.  Four to six weeks later the parents wean the young and will no longer bring them food.  At that point the young must fend for themselves and leave the territory forever.  If they cannot feed themselves, they die.  This is The Way of the Peregrine.