Banding Peregrine Falcons

Every spring, Mass Audubon's Norman Smith works with MassWildlife to band the peregrine falcon chicks in the clock tower of the Marriott Vacation Club Pulse at Custom House in Boston. 

The bands provide researchers valuable information about the behavior of these endangered birds. Each year’s Custom House brood will head out on their own approximately three-to-six weeks after banding. In another two years, they will hopefully breed and thereby ensure the peregrine population continues to grow.

You can help support Trailside's work like banding peregrine falcons by making a donation.

Custom House Falcon Cam

Keep an eye on the falcons via a live camera feed.

Note: This camera is run independent of Mass Audubon.

About Peregrine Falcons

Peregrine Falcons are capable of flying up to 242 miles per hour. Their speed and wicked sharp talons make them incredible hunters. They have the unique ability to capture and kill other birds in flight, everything from blue jays to American woodcocks, before returning to the nest.

Once an abundant breeder in the eastern United States, with a recorded 375 nesting pairs in the 1930s and 1940s, these falcons fell prey to the effects of DDT. The last historical active nest in Massachusetts was in 1955 on Monument Mountain in Great Barrington. According to MassWildlife, the pesticide caused the falcon's eggs to be too thin and unable to withstand the weight of incubation.

By 1966, not a single nesting pair could be found in the eastern US. After the banning of DDT, an effort to restore the Peregrine population ensued. Dubbed “hacking,” young falcons were raised in captivity in a special way to avoid imprinting (becoming used to humans).

After a few attempts of releasing these captive-breed young falcons—including a release at Mass Audubon's Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln—the first modern falcon nest in Massachusetts was deemed successful in 1987.

There are now approximately 30 nesting pairs of Peregrine Falcons in Massachusetts. They are found on top of buildings and bridges—the closest thing to the rocky cliffs they once preferred.