By the time DDT was finally banned in 1972, there was not a single peregrine falcon left east of the Mississippi. Eggs shattered before fledglings could hatch. Through a process known as biomagnification, DDT accumulated in the peregrines, causing their eggs to become too weak to support the weight of the mother incubating her eggs.

The sparrows, pigeons, and other small birds that peregrines hunted fed on insects contaminated with DDT. Capable of flying at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour in level flight, the peregrine is one of the world’s fastest birds.īut in the 1950s and 60s, the chemical dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), used widely in agricultural pesticides, found its way up the food chain. One of nature’s most skillful hunters, the peregrine falcon dive-bombs its prey at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. Until the middle of the 20th century, the crow-sized, dark-capped, blue-gray peregrines ruled the skies and rocky mountaintops from Alaska all the way to Georgia, preying on smaller birds such as sparrows and pigeons. The reemergence of the peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus) in North America is one of the environmental movement’s greatest success stories. This park, which occupies the former site of the estate of Arthur von Briesen (1843-1920), is a prime spot for sighting peregrine falcons.

Peregrine falcon new york city