Penthouse home awaits rare peregrine falcons in Victoria—comments from David Bird

The Times Colonist reports that a nesting pair of peregrine falcons, along with a juvenile born this year, have been landing on the upper decks and rooftop of the Promontory residential tower in Victoria, BC, where penthouse owner Fred Welter has set up a nesting box complete with cameras poised to stream any action.

For months, David Bird, one of Canada’s foremost raptor scholars, and Jacques Sirois of the Victoria Migratory Bird Sanctuary have been visiting the tallest rooftops in Victoria in attempts to document a potential nest.

Bird, emeritus ­professor of wildlife biology at McGill ­University and expert ­ornithologist specializing in raptors, told the Times that Victoria is lucky to attract “such magnificent birds” to the urban environment.

He said peregrines usually lay up to four eggs, but the Victoria pair had just one fledgling this year, leading him to believe the nest was disturbed in some way or the others didn’t survive.

Bird said the bridges are too low in Victoria to support a falcon nest, so he’s hoping the nesting box on the Promontory will be their permanent site.

He describes the peregrines as “the fastest organisms on the planet” and the perfect hunters.

The peregrine stoop, their diving-bombing technique, sees the birds reach a high altitude and then dive down at lightning speed to kill their prey — usually unaware pigeons and starlings — in a mid-air lethal impact using talons and sharp beak.

Bird said the fastest stoop ever recorded was nearly 300 kilometres per hour. A pet peregrine raised from an egg was clocked by his owner at that speed in 2021 while skydiving with the bird.