On A Wing And A Prayer: How Soaring Cathedral Spires Became Home To Falcons
LONDON — The soaring spires and towers of cathedrals across the U.K. have become homes to countless pairs of breeding falcons. Each spring, the patter of tiny claws is eagerly awaited by millions of people watching the activities of parent birds and their offspring via webcams set up for such situations.
Among the cathedrals welcoming breeding pairs this year are Chichester, Derby, Ely, Leicester, Llandaff, Norwich, Salisbury, St. Albans, Wakefield, Winchester and Worcester. Many of the birds return to the same cathedral nests each year. It is known that the same pair — named Peter and Peggy by their followers — have occupied the Worcester nest box each year since 2022, with their first egg being laid at the end of March.
Cathedrals have become very desirable residences for falcons, especially peregrines. It is easy to see why. These are locations that are secure, providing a great place to rear chicks in safety away from potential predators. These are locations which are proving very successful as breeding sites. At Derby, for example, peregrines have reared 55 chicks on the cathedral tower since 2006.
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Chris Dobbs, biodiversity advisor at the Worcester Cathedral, said birds “love cathedral towers because they are similar in some ways to their natural habitat nesting sites, which include quarry faces, sea cliffs and mountainsides, as they like to have a high prospect looking over the area of their territory, which Cathedral towers provide.”
Links between falcons and cathedrals go back a long way. In Worcester, they are depicted in parts of the cathedral’s great West Window and also on parts of the stonework. At Salisbury, peregrines are known to have occupied nests on its tower since 1864, until increased pesticide use — especially DDT after World War II — led to their disappearance.
Peregrines reappeared at the cathedral in 2014. Since then, they have returned every year, occupying a nesting box created by the Salisbury Cathedral Works Yard team. During the nesting season, the birds never leave the tower except to hunt, and there is always one on guard over the eggs to make sure no other falcons move in.
Across the country, cathedral authorities are welcoming the birds regarding their presence as an environmental success story. The dean of Norwich, the Rev. Andrew Braddock, said, “It is wonderful to have peregrine falcons make their home on the cathedral spire. We know many people enjoy watching the livestream from the spire, and we are very grateful to the Hawk and Owl Trust’s work in looking after the birds and keeping people up to date with all the latest news.”
A group of chicks from Salisbury Cathedral. (Photo courtesy of Salisbury Cathedral)
Breeding pairs frequently lay as many as five eggs each season, and almost all hatch successfully. Nest boxes are usually provided and monitored by local wildlife groups who help care for the birds, including rescuing juveniles whose attempts at flight are unsuccessful and have to be taken back up the tower for another attempt.
The birds attract considerable publicity as visitors are keen to see the majestic birds in flight, as well as the activities of the growing chicks and their eventual attempts to learn to fly via webcams. As soon as nesting begins, visitor numbers to the cathedrals immediately start rising — and not just within the U.K.
Viewers worldwide tune in to see the young chicks. In Worcester, the livestream was viewed over 90,000 times even before the eggs had hatched. Derby Cathedral has attracted over 4.5 million viewers from over 70 countries, while the Salisbury webcam is known to have people watching from as far away as the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Slovenia and Japan.
Locally, the arrival of the nesting falcons frequently involves numerous community-based activities. Cathedral authorities frequently issue a call out for members of the public to suggest names for the birds before they fly the nest, with the final names eventually being chosen as a result of a public vote.
At Salisbury Cathedral, for instance, the Royal Society for Protection of Birds has planned free peregrine-themed “Date with Nature” activities outside the cathedral, enabling visitors to use telescopes to watch the birds close up throughout the period of fledging.
Wherever possible, the British Trust for Ornithology rings the fledglings as well as weighing and measuring their wing spans. This enables them to be identified so that they can be recorded on the national database for future reference. It is known that one of the chicks that left the nest from Worcester Cathedral in 2022 was recently spotted in Bolton, while Mr. Lazy from the 2023 cohort was spotted at in London.
The Association of English Cathedrals has a website with various links to webcams for an array of houses of worship from across the U.K. for all to see.
Angela Youngman is a freelance journalist who has written for a wide range of national and international publications.