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Birds Peregrine Falcon  Peregrine Falcons have been observed in Hazen’s Notch for the last few years. This Spring a pair of birds has been observed but no nest site has been located.Peregrines have made an impressive comeback in Vermont in the last 20 years after having been extirpated from the United States east of the Mississippi River by 1965. Their decline was directly due to the deliterious effects of DDT, a pesticide that was commonly used to control mosquitoes in residential areas. Peregrines are animals at the top of the food web; they hunt and eat birds. By eating Red-winged Blackbirds, Pigeons, Robins and other species, Peregrine falcons accumulated high levels of DDT in the fat tissues. This caused female Peregrine falcons to lay eggs with shells that weretoo thin to survive incubation. DDT was finally banned in 1972. A captive breeding program was initiated by Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in 1975 using techniques refined by falconers who raised the birds for sport. 93 chicks were raised in captivity and released (hacked) into the wild in Vermont from 1982 – 1987. A pair of Peregrines nested successfully on the cliffs of Mt. Pisgah at Lake Willoughby in 1985. This was the first pair to nest in the wild in Vermont for nearly 30 years. The number of breeding pairs rose steadily throughout Vermont on suitable sites that historically attracted birds. Peregrines nest on narrow ledges on steep cliff faces that are inaccessible to predators. Biologists at the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences made an assessment in 1995 of current and historical locations where the habitat was still suitable for peregrine falcons. They determined that 9 historical sites that had not previously been recolonized have high potential to attract Peregrine falcons. The cliffs of Sugarloaf Mountain in Hazen’s Notch are one of the nine sites. This Spring a territorial pair of unbanded falcons was observed flying in the skies over Hazen’s Notch. This is not the first year that Peregrine falcons have been seen in Hazen's Notch. However, no peregrines have nested in Hazen's Notch to date. 29 territorial pairs of Peregrine falcons occupied cliffs around the state in 2003 including several newly established territories. That year 16 pairs succeeded in fledging at least 39 chicks. We will continue to look for these magnificent birds and hope that in the near future, the cliffs in Hazen’s Notch will host a family of falcons. - Deborah Benjamin  Wildlife Observation Tips
If you know that Peregrines are nesting in an area, you should view them from a distance using binoculars or a spotting scope so as not to disturb the birds. Hiking Trails where nests are active are closed by the state during the nesting season, as the birds especially do not like to be disturbed by people or animals that they can see at the tops of cliffs above the nest site.  Recommended Reading
Hawks in Flight by Pete Dunne, David Sibley and Clay Sutton. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. The Wind Masters: The Lives of North American Birds of Prey by Pete Dunne. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. How to Spot Hawks and Eagles by Clay Sutton and Patricia Taylor Sutton. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. This page was last updated on February 17, 2006 |
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Hazen's Notch Association l P.O. Box 478 l Montgomery Center VT 05471 l info@hazensnotch.org l 802.326.4799 |