Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Abundance: Very Uncommon; at least 30 Regional records in 14 counties, 4 in Kentucky and 10 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); Occasional during winter; formerly Very Uncommon  to Rare during the breeding season along the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau; data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the population migrating through the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Transient during spring (7 records) and fall (13 records); Winter Visitor (1 record); formerly a Summer Resident (9 records); photograph (see link below).

Regional High Count: 2 (several records below).

Information on Records: 

29 May 1927 (2—adults at nest) Rockcastle Cove, 3 km south of Jamestown, Fentress County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier; Ganier 1937).

14–20 June 1937 (2—adults) Pickett State Park, Pickett County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier et al.; Ganier 1937).

14–20 June 1937 (pair—at nest) "Rock Island...above Laurel Fork," [probably] Fentress County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier et al.; Ganier 1937).

14–20 June 1937 (1) "Rock Creek Canyon near the Kentucky line," [probably] Scott County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier et al.; Ganier 1937).

14–20 June 1937 (1) "over the valley east of Chimney Rock," either Pickett County, Tennessee, or Wayne County, Kentucky (Albert F. Ganier et al.; Ganier 1937).

14 June 1938 (present) 7 km east of Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky (W. M. Perrygo; Wetmore 1940).

5 July 1939 (1) Rockcastle River, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Robert M. Mengel; Mengel 1940a); nest found next day in nearby Laurel County, Kentucky.

15–23 June 1940 (adults—and nest) Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park, Van Buren County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier and Alfred Clebsch; Ganier and Clebsch 1940).

April 1942 (active nest) Pickett Forest, Pickett County, Tennessee (Walter R. Spofford; Spofford 1942).

Mid-September 1943 (present—near nest site) Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park, Van Buren County, Tennessee (Walter R. Spofford; Spofford 1943).

June 1946 (1—near nest site ) Wolf River Gorge, Pickett County, Tennessee (Walter R. Spofford; Spofford 1948).

9 April 1964 (1) Barren County, Kentucky (Russell Starr; Wilson 1969).

24 September 1978 (1) Bon Air, White County, Tennessee (Sue Bell et al.; Bierly 1979a).

2 January 1985 (1) Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer).

27 September 1987 (1—adult) Cookeville Fire Tower, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Stedman 1988b; Stedman 1993).

20 April 1989 (1—immature) Cookeville Fire Tower, Putnam County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman; Stedman 1993).

19 September 1992 (1—adult) Hackworth Farm on Rt. 62, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman; Stedman 1993).

23 September 1995 (1—immature) Mason Grissom Rd., Warren County, Tennessee (Susan N. McWhirter).

12 September 2001 (1) Fishing Creek, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

30 September 2001 (1) Hinch Mountain, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Chris Sloan, Boyd Sharp).

11 May 2002 (1) Pulaski County, Kentucky (Scott Marsh), a Spring Bird Count record.

28 September 2002 (2) Hinch Mountain, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Roi Shannon, Debbie Shannon; Knight 2003a).

1 October 2003 (1—immature) Point Trail, Obed Wild and Scenic River, Morgan County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman; Knight 2004a).

23 October 2004 (1) Fishing Creek, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2005a).

17 April 2005 (1) Upper Faulkner Spring Rd., McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee (R. Gregg Garrison; Casteel 2005c).

28 September 2005 (1) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2006a).

1 October 2005 (1) White County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman; Hoff 2006a), a Fall Bird Count record.

5 October 2007 (1—adult) Casey Creek, Adair County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo).

1 May 2009 (1) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

19 September 2010 (1—immature) Ironwood Golf Course, Putnam County, Tennessee (Judy Fuson, Michael Hawkins), a Fall Bird Count record.

31 March 2011 (1—age unknown) Lee's Ford Marina, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Arlene M. Morton, Roseanna M. Denton, C. Gay Hodges).

Regional Extreme Dates for Migrants since 1960s:

    Spring: 31 March 2011 (Pulaski County, Kentucky; Arlene M. Morton, Roseanna M. Denton, C. Gay Hodges)–11 May 2002 (Pulaski County, Kentucky [Spring Bird Count]; Scott Marsh).

    Fall: 12 September 2001 (1; Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton)–23 October 2004 (1; Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton); but note no records 6-22 October; note also the record during January 1985 in Barren County, Kentucky.

Breeding: Confirmed (Historical) in Fentress County, Tennessee, during May 1927 (Ganier 1937); in Pickett County, Tennessee, during June 1937 and June 1942 (Ganier 1937; Spofford 1942); and in Van Buren County, Tennessee, during June 1940 (Ganier and Clebsch 1940).  Also a probable breeder in Scott County, Tennessee, during June 1937 ( Ganier 1937) and in adjoining Wayne County, Kentucky, during June 1938 (Wetmore 1940).  Present in Pulaski County, Kentucky—and confirmed as a breeder in adjacent Laurel County, Kentucky—during July 1939 (Mengel 1940a).

Habitat: Historically, bred in river gorges with sharply defined cliffs and vertical rock structures along the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau.  Currently, migrant through the Region, being most often present at sites near large bodies of water where prey species congregate.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Remarks: Note the near-hiatus in records from 1946 to 1978, reflecting the adverse consequences of widespread DDT application and contamination from 1930s through early 1960s.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited