![]() ![]() You can often hear them calling above the busy tourist areas, and people seldom realize that a rare endangered species is right above their head. There has been a pair of falcons living in this area since 1985. The original nesting pair of peregrine falcons settled in North Boston the male was directly from the release program started by Cornell, and his mate was banded in Toronto. Tom Cade, The Peregrine Fund and other groups released more than 6,000 peregrine falcons in 37 states, and Massachusetts was one of those states. A Cornell professor, Tom Cade, started a peregrine falcon breeding program at the Hawk Barn at the edge of Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary. ![]() In the '60s and '70s, peregrine falcons and other birds of prey had their populations decimated by the pesticide DDT. ![]() I was surprised that these Boston falcons could trace some of their heritage back to Cornell. So I called up Tom French, from the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. I began an online search for information on the peregrines, but couldn’t find too much, other than old newspaper articles. On one of our first days in the city, one of our resource people mentioned that she had sometimes seen peregrines in downtown Boston, near Faneuil Hall. I was surprised to find that the city of Boston helps one of my favorite endangered species: the peregrine falcon. Throughout the month I thought about how the man-made landscape may help, not hinder, certain species of plants or animals. I was surprised to find pockets of biodiversity, culture and green spaces throughout the Boston area. Coming from a very rural background, I was not expecting to find a very diverse ecosystem in this highly urbanized area. looking at urban ecology for a grad school course. I just spent an entire month in Cambridge, Mass. Boston plays host to rare peregrine falconsġ9 hours ago • Amy Barra, Special to The Citizen(0) Comments ![]()
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