(by Chris Martin)
2025 Breeding Season Results
During the 2025 NH Peregrine Falcon breeding season, NH Audubon staff and volunteers confirmed a record-high 37 territorial pairs statewide, up a remarkable 30% from 28 pairs found in 2024. This is the largest single-season jump for NH’s state-threatened Peregrine pairs in the last half century!
We documented 28 pairs incubating eggs, but only 21 pairs hatched, which is the same number as 2024 but a lower hatch rate (75% vs 91%). Total number of Peregrine fledglings fell from 50 young in 2024 to 44 in 2025. But NH recovery data suggests that rebounds often follow down years, so more territorial pairs now could lead to more fledglings next year.
In 2025, we found falcons at several sites (Mount Willard, Osceola East Peak, and Ragged Bulkhead) where they had not been detected in recent breeding seasons. We coordinated with land managers to place seasonal climbing closures on four high-use cliffs on National Forest, State Park, and municipal conservation land. And NH Audubon’s Rusty Blackbird research team reported ‘pings’ from a nanotag attached earlier this season to one of their Rusties coming from a Peregrine nest site in Dixville Notch – sorry about that!