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Published: March 14, 2015

Illinois to remove Peregrine Falcon from [state] Threatened Species List

Mary Hennen, Assistant Collections Manager, Birds; Director, Chicago Peregrine Program, Gantz Family Collections Center

Illinois to remove Peregrine Falcon from [state] Threatened Species List

I read the above statement on the internet today (14 March 2015) so it must be true – right?!  Actually, it is. 

During the 163rd meeting of the Illinois’ Endangered Species Protection Board (ESPB), on 15 August 2014, the board reviewed and approved the final draft for amendments to the Endangered & Threatened Species List.  Within these amendments was the delisting of the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus).

The Peregrine was first listed as endangered under the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Act in 1973. An increasing population of breeding Peregrines led to the species’ status being downgraded from endangered to threatened in 2004. A review of the species status took place in 2009 and the ESPB decided that a management and monitoring plan was needed before there could be any changes to the Peregrines’ status.

ESPB reviews the Endangered & Threatened Species List every five years. So between 2010 and 2014, a post delisting management plan was written and approved.  During the 161st ESPB meeting, on 21 February 2014, specific approval to delist the Peregrine was given.  This would not be official until a review of the entire list was completed.  While this happened last August, until the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) updates the list on their website, or gives me the “official word”, I was told that the best I could say was “preliminary approval for delisting”. 

When it comes down to it, all bureaucracy aside, you can say the Peregrines’ status in Illinois has been changed to ”Recovered.”  And yes, it has been removed as an Illinois threatened species, paperwork pending.  Just a reminder - delisting from the federal U.S. Endangered and Threatened Species List took place in 1999.  Also, the Peregrine will continue to be protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  

The recovery of the Peregrine is something we (and there are A LOT of people in that “we”) have been working toward for the past 30 years.  This is wonderful news. So much so that you would expect me to be shouting from the rooftops “PEREGRINES RECOVERED IN ILLINOIS”.  It will happen, just let me get that “official word” first.

Mary Hennen
Assistant Collections Manager, Birds; Director, Chicago Peregrine Program

I have been working in the Bird Collection in some capacity (at times student, volunteer, or staff), since 1989. Much of my time is spent with skeletal prep including managing the Bird's Dermestid colonies.

My primary work outside of the bird collection is with Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus). As recently as 1960's, Peregrines had been extirpated east of the Rockies.

Many factors contributed to the decline of Peregrines, including habitat loss, hunting, and egg collecting, though the predominant cause was effects of organochlorines such as DDT. By comparing the egg shell thickness of the few remaining peregrines to historic oology collections including the Field Museum's, scientists discovered that DDT and it's byproducts interfered with calcium production in females causing them to lay thin eggs which subsequently were crushed during incubation.

With the recovery of the species, the Chicago Peregrine Program now directs it's focus towards monitoring Peregrines in Illinois. The Peregrine Falcon was removed from the Federal Endangered Species List in 2000 and has been approved for removal from the Illinois State Endangered and Threatened Species List in 2015.

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