The British Trust for Ornithology
PEREGRINE FALCON
Falco peregrinus

Peregrine Falcon © Tommy Holden
Conservation Listings

Table 4/Amber (European status)
Biodiversity Steering Group Conservation Concern List
Long term trend
UK: Increase
North-west Scotland: Decline 
 
Status Summary
Although Peregrine has an unfavourable conservation status in Europe, its population size and distribution in the UK have largely recovered from the detrimental effects of organochlorine pesticides in the 1950s and 1960s; however, populations have declined recently in north-west Scotland and the Northern Isles (Crick & Ratcliffe 1995). The breeding performance of this species appears to have fully recovered but declined in the latter areas. Nest record information, for the UK as a whole, shows a significant decline in clutch size. The change of -0.60 eggs (below) is calculated over the full 31-year time-period, whereas only small samples are available for the first 10 years. So a better estimate would be to suggest a clutch size decline of 0.41 eggs over the 21-year period 1978-99. Population size of breeding pairs has been censused every 10 years by BTO/JNCC/RSPB/Raptor Study Groups since 1961. 1961, 385 pairs; 1971, 489 pairs; 1981, 728 pairs; 1991, 1283 pairs (Ratcliffe 1996).
Annual population changes are not monitored for this species
Table of productivity information for Peregrine Falcon
Variable Period
(yrs)		 Years Mean
annual
sample		 Trend Predicted
in first year		 Predicted
in last year		 Change Comment
Clutch size 31 1968-1999 16 Linear decline 3.7 eggs 3.1 eggs -0.6 eggs Small sample
Brood size 31 1968-1999 40 None        
Daily failure rate (eggs) 31 1968-1999 21 None       Small sample
Daily failure rate (chicks) 31 1968-1999 21 None       Small sample
 

 

Insufficient data on laying date
available for this species

 

 

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species

 




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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Crick, H.Q.P., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Leech, D.I., Marchant, J.H.,
Noble, D.G., Raven, M.J., Simpkin, A.P., Thewlis, R.M. and Wernham, C.V. (2002) Breeding Birds in the Wider
Countryside: their conservation status 2001. BTO Research Report No. 278. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

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