Peregrine falcons in California: Identification, nesting cliffs, calls and legal status

Peregrine falcons live in California all year. They nest on coastal cliffs, in the Sierra Nevada and the northern mountains, and on tall buildings and bridges in cities. In winter, more peregrines arrive from breeding grounds farther north. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has documented more than 400 breeding pairs in California, a long way from the 1970s, when DDT had pushed the species onto federal and state endangered lists.

The peregrine falcon was removed from the federal endangered list in 1999 and from California's in 2009. It is no longer fully protected under state law either. It remains protected as a bird of prey under the Fish and Game Code and as a migratory bird under federal law, which means it may not be taken or possessed, and its nests and eggs may not be destroyed, except as those laws allow.

This guide covers how to identify a peregrine, where and when to see one in California, what it eats and where it nests, its calls, its recovery and its legal status. It is part of our guide to the birds of Californsia and our guide to birds of prey in California.

Peregrine falcon facts: Size, season and status in California:

Sources: CBRC checklist (September 8, 2026); CDFW American Peregrine Falcons in California; All About Birds (length); CDFW listed-animals list (July 2026); CWHR account B129.

Peregrine falcon identification: Blue-gray back, dark sideburns and a wingspan of about 40 inches:

The checklist name is the Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, on the California Bird Records Committee's official state list. It is a large falcon with long, pointed wings and a long tail. CDFW gives its weight as 530 to 1,600 grams, or roughly 1.2 to 3.5 pounds, and its wingspan as 39.4 to 43.3 inches. Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds puts its length at 14.2 to 19.3 inches. Females are larger than males, but the two sexes look alike.

Adults are blue-gray above with pale breasts and barred flanks. The head is dark, with a thick "sideburn" mark below each eye. Juveniles are browner and have heavy vertical streaks on the breast instead of horizontal bars. In flight, juveniles show boldly checkered brown and whitish underwings, and the flight is powerful and fluid on long, sharply pointed wings.

Two subspecies occur in California, CDFW says. The American peregrine falcon ranges across much of North America, while Peale's falcon lives year-round in the Pacific Northwest and is more limited to the northern part of California. All About Birds notes that young Peale's falcons are very dark, with nearly blackish upperparts.

CDFW describes the peregrine as the fastest bird in the world, reaching 150 to 200 miles per hour in a dive. Its normal cruising speed is 24 to 33 miles per hour, rising to about 67 miles per hour when it chases prey.

Peregrine falcons in California: Coastal cliffs, mountains and city skylines year-round:

Peregrine falcons breed in California and stay through the year. CDFW's map of known nesting territories from 1953 to 2017 shows territories along nearly the whole coast, from Del Norte County to San Diego County, with dense clusters on the North Coast and around San Francisco Bay. Others are scattered through the Sierra Nevada and the mountains of far northern California, with few on the floor of the Central Valley or in the southeastern deserts. The map leaves out nests on the Channel Islands.

That makes the peregrine a bird of both northern and southern California. Its breeding sites range from cliffs in uninhabited areas to tall buildings and bridges in cities, according to CDFW.

The season changes the picture. CDFW's California Wildlife Habitat Relationships account for the species describes California's breeders as residents, joined in winter by peregrines that breed farther north. In winter peregrines spread inland through the Central Valley and occasionally reach the Channel Islands. Migrants pass along the coast and the western Sierra Nevada in spring and fall. The account calls riparian areas and coastal and inland wetlands important habitat all year, especially outside the breeding season. All About Birds also notes that the species is more common along coasts.

Peregrine falcon diet and nesting in California: Birds caught in flight and eggs laid on bare ledges:

Peregrines eat mostly small to medium-size birds, including songbirds, shorebirds, ducks, doves and pigeons, CDFW says. They also take small reptiles and mammals and occasionally bats. Peregrines catch their bird prey in the air. A peregrine often watches from a high perch, then attacks in a steep, fast dive known as a stoop. In cities, All About Birds notes, peregrines are skilled at catching pigeons.

Peregrines do not build nests. The female lays her eggs in a scrape, a shallow depression on a cliff ledge or on a building or bridge, and pairs occasionally take over old nests of other birds such as ravens. The CWHR account says peregrines usually nest near water, on high cliffs, banks, dunes or mounds, and sometimes on human-made structures.

In California the breeding season generally begins in late February or early March and ends when the young leave the nest in May or June, according to CDFW. The CWHR account gives clutches of three to seven eggs, usually three or four, and an incubation period of about 32 days. A pair may lay a second clutch if the first eggs are lost early in the season. Golden eagles, great horned owls, raccoons and other mammals may prey on the young.

Peregrine falcon calls and sounds: A loud, harsh series of alarm notes:

The peregrine's best-known call is an alarm, which All About Birds describes as a loud series of harsh "kak" notes. Recordings of the alarm call and other peregrine sounds are on the All About Birds peregrine falcon sounds page.

Peregrine falcon legal status in California: Delisted in 2009 and still protected as a bird of prey:

Before World War II the U.S. breeding population was estimated at 3,875 pairs, CDFW says. Habitat loss, shooting and egg collecting took a toll in the early 1900s, but CDFW names the pesticide DDT as the most damaging threat. DDT and its breakdown product, DDE, thinned peregrine eggshells and caused widespread nesting failures. By the mid-1960s no peregrines were left in the eastern United States, and by 1970 breeding pairs had fallen by about 95%. By 1975 there were only about 324 known pairs in the country.

The peregrine was listed as federally endangered on June 3, 1970, and as state endangered on June 27, 1971, according to CDFW's July 2026 list of listed animals. DDT was banned in the United States in 1972. State and federal agencies then worked with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, the Institute for Wildlife Studies, the Peregrine Fund, falconers and volunteers on recovery projects that included captive breeding and release, and the population began to increase. The falcon was federally delisted as recovered on August 25, 1999, and delisted in California on November 4, 2009. CDFW says migration and breeding surveys in the western United States now show an increasing trend.

The peregrine was also once one of California's fully protected birds. CDFW's list records that Senate Bill 147, in July 2023, removed the American peregrine falcon from the fully protected list because it had been delisted as recovered.

Peregrines are still protected. Fish and Game Code section 3503.5 makes it unlawful to take, possess or destroy any bird of prey or its nest or eggs except as the code and its regulations allow. Section 3503 protects the nests and eggs of all birds, and section 3513 bars taking or possessing any bird on the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act list, which includes the peregrine falcon under 50 CFR 10.13. CDFW's Raptors of California page lists the peregrine among California's raptors protected under those sections.

For people who want to keep a raptor, CDFW runs a falconry licensing program. Its falconry page says the license is issued to people at least 12 years old who keep raptors to hunt game or nongame birds or mammals, and that licensees must also hold a hunting license. New applicants pay for an examination ($70.75 in 2026) and for an inspection of their raptor facilities. CDFW also keeps a database of known peregrine nesting territories and invites the public to submit observations through its survey forms.

Similar species to the peregrine falcon in California: Prairie falcon and merlin:

The prairie falcon is the closest look-alike. It is about the size of a peregrine, but it is brown above, with a paler tail that contrasts with its back, and it has a brown mustache stripe and a pale stripe over the eye, All About Birds says. A key field mark is underneath. A flying prairie falcon shows dark feathering under the wing from the "armpit" toward the wrist. In California it is an uncommon year-round resident of the southeastern deserts, the Central Valley, the inner Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada below its highest elevations, and it is mostly absent from the northern coastal fog belt, according to its CWHR account.

The merlin is a much smaller falcon, 9.4 to 11.8 inches long and weighing 5.6 to 8.5 ounces, according to All About Birds. It is dark and streaky, with a heavily streaked chest, and often lacks a strong mustache mark. It is an uncommon winter visitor to California from September to May, its CWHR account says. An adult peregrine's blue-gray back, barred underparts and heavy sideburns differ from both.

Peregrine falcons in California: A recovered raptor on cliffs, coasts and city skylines:

Peregrine falcons in California have gone from a species in steep decline to one with more than 400 documented breeding pairs and a place on city skylines as well as remote cliffs. The falcon is no longer endangered or fully protected, but it is still covered by California's bird-of-prey law and the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. CDFW continues to track known nesting territories. In fall, migrant peregrines pass along the coast and the western Sierra Nevada, and through the winter birds from farther north join California's resident pairs along the coast, over wetlands and in the Central Valley.