Peregrine

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Peregrine, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Green listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	Yes
Birds Directive Annex 1	Yes
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(I,IV), WBD(I), Bern(III), Bonn(II), CITES(I)

The number of breeding pairs in the UK and Isle of Man is exceptionally well known. There is an estimate of 874 pairs for the 1930s and the population has been estimated every decade since 1961 as follows: 1961 - 385 pairs; 1971 - 489 pairs; 1981 - 728 pairs; and 1991 - 1,283 pairs (BTO/JNCC/RSPB/Raptor Study Groups; Ratcliffe 1993). In 2002, 1,437 breeding pairs were found in the UK and Isle of Man (Banks et al. 2003, 2010) though around 50 pairs were missed in Wales (Dixon et al. 2008). The latest figure, 1,769 pairs in 2014, represents a further increase of 22% overall since 2002 (Wilson et al. 2018).

UK breeding population

-43% decrease (1995–2022)

Peregrines breed in upland and coastal areas with suitable cliffs, and across much of the lowlands, where pairs will utilise quarries and man-made structures from pylons and power stations to churches and cathedrals.

Peregrine breeding range has tripled in size since 1968–72. Similarly, the winter range in Britain has doubled since the 1981–84 Winter Atlas, with gains primarily across lowland England. In Ireland a 51% winter range increase has seen expansion from the coast to the midlands.

Peregrines are recorded throughout the year.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	21 years 10 months 24 days (set in 2016)
Typical Lifespan	7 years with breeding typically at 2 year
Adult Survival	0.81±0.034
Juvenile Survival	0.6 (in first year)

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	G
Field Codes	2-letter: PE | 5-letter code: PEREG | Euring: 3200

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Causes of change

The UK population size, distribution and breeding performance have all largely recovered from the poisonous effects of organochlorine pesticides in the 1950s and 1960s (Newton 2013). Illegal persecution continues to limit numbers in the uplands, and food supply may also be a limiting factor in some areas.

Further information on causes of change

Populations and breeding performance have declined, however, in northwest Scotland and the Northern Isles (Crick & Ratcliffe 1995). The overall increase between the 2002 and 2014 surveys masks a major distributional shift away from the uplands (North East Scotland Raptor Study Group 2015, Wilson et al. 2018) and towards lowland regions and the coast; Peregrine pairs in England have increased fivefold since 1981 and now, for the first time, outnumber those in Scotland (Wilson et al. 2018). Illegal persecution continues to limit numbers in the uplands, and food supply may also be a limiting factor in some areas; however persecution in lowland areas decreased during the 20th century, allowing numbers to benefit from the ban on organochlorine agrochemicals and from increased use of human structures as nest sites (Wilson et al. 2018).

Nest record information for the UK as a whole shows a significant rise in the number of fledglings per breeding attempt. This could at least partly reflect the distributional changes: urban Peregrines have a higher number of fledglings per breeding attempt than rural birds, possibly linked at least in part to higher prey availability (Kettel et al. 2018a, 2018b). In northern England, breeding productivity on grouse moors has been 50% lower than at nests in other habitats, indicating that illegal persecution on land managed for Red Grouse shooting remains an important pressure on the population (Amar et al. 2012).

Information about conservation actions

Although this species is increasing across many lowland areas of the UK, actions to reduce persecution are required to reverse recent declines in the uplands, where illegal persecution is believed to limit the population (see Causes of Change section).

Elsewhere, there are possible concerns about the risk of genetic introgression from escaped falcons following increases in the numbers of Peregrines and hybrid falcons in captivity (Fleming et al. 2011).