A towering tradition: the falcons that return each Easter

Every springtime, like clockwork, any major activity on the University of Birmingham’s iconic Old Joe tower must pause and take a four-month break, including no access to the bell chamber, to allow two very special guests to take up their annual residence. There are approximately only 1,800 pairs of Peregrine Falcons in the UK today, and we’re lucky to have one of those pairs consider our campus their preferred nesting spot. But this didn’t just happen by chance. Over the last 30 years, committed members of the University have worked hard to make these beautiful birds of prey feel right at home.

Peregrines have been spotted around the campus site since the early 1990s, and it was Professor Graham Martin, Professor Emeritus of Avian Sensory Science, School of Biosciences, who took particular interest in the birds, having observed them using the Muirhead Tower as a viewing platform. He organised for the University’s Estates Office to build a nest box on the tower to encourage the birds to settle on a more permanent basis. Unfortunately, the picky pair didn’t take to the Professor’s offering, so it was back to the drawing board.

During the following years, two University of Birmingham alumni came on board to assist. Bird Ringers Richard Castle (1982 graduate of Biological Sciences) and Rob Skeates (1976 Dentistry graduate) had been studying birds in the Birmingham, West Midlands and Warwickshire areas since the mid ‘70s, but the University project was understandably close to their hearts.

Richard, who has been one of the British Trust for Ornithology’s voluntary Bird Ringers for 47 years, recalls: “Separately to the unsuccessful attempt on the Muirhead Tower, a nest box was installed on the roof of the West Midlands Police Headquarters at Lloyds House, Snow Hill, in Queensway. Unfortunately, during the time it was in place, the birds did not attempt to nest. We had already been thinking of moving the box, but then discovering that extensive maintenance work was due to be carried out on the roof of the Police HQ building made this a necessity.

Peregrines don’t build their own nests. In the wild, they favour high vantage points such as cliffs and rocky outcrops, where they can simply settle into a sheltered spot on the rocks and make a depression in the gravel. Everyone involved took seriously the idea that the University had a responsibility to see these birds thrive, and we thought Old Joe’s tower could provide them with a high spot in which they would feel safe and sheltered.”

But, like many house moves, it wasn’t an easy change of location. Richard adds: “The nesting box is a large, heavy-duty one which had to be dismantled, brought down and transported to the University in 2010. Having access to the lift in Old Joe was beyond valuable. Lifting the various parts into the bell chamber using ropes and then reassembling it was painstaking work which took a couple of days’ hard graft.” The team’s tenacity paid off and the first confirmed nesting came in 2013 and has continued every year since, making Old Joe one of the most successful nesting sites in the West Midlands.

“There’s no way of knowing if it has been the same pair of Peregrines nesting for all these years,” says Richard “Peregrines do pair for life and breed from the age of two. However, if one of the pair dies, the surviving bird will accept a new mate. An adult Peregrine’s life expectancy is between 11 and 15 years on average, so it’s most likely that the pairing has changed at least once over this timeframe.”

Historically, UK Peregrines lay three or four eggs per year between the 4th week of March to the 4th week of April, with the female laying her clutch over an 8 to 10 day period. Incubation starts with the laying of the penultimate or final egg to try and ensure that all chicks hatch at a similar time, reducing the differences in size and chances of them outcompeting each other for food. Once the last egg is laid, both parents share the incubation. On average, it takes between 29 and 32 days for a single egg to hatch. The chicks fledge between 35 and 40 days, depending on food availability. It can therefore take over three months from re-establishing the nest site, through laying to eventual fledging of the chicks. The chicks are then generally reliant on the adults for the next two months until they become independent.

Richard and Rob monitor the nest as closely as they can without disturbing its residents, checking the contents around mid-May. “The UoB site has had a number of years with three chicks successfully fledging,” reports Richard. “However, there have been other years with just one or two chicks. For unknown reasons, last year (2024) was unusual, with the pair being unsuccessful, so all eyes are on the nest for 2025’s nesting season. Once hatched, we give each chick an individually numbered metal ring on one leg and a yellow plastic, “Darvic”, ring on the other leg. The Darvic ring has a unique three-letter code and can be read with good optics, thus enabling us to recognise individual birds. There have also been discussions about installing a couple of cameras, and it is hoped that these could answer a lot of the questions that we have about their nesting habits.”

These beautiful and specially protected birds can be seen around campus at any time of year, but most likely from mid-February when they are in the early stages of nesting, through to mid-June when the young have fledged. Chancellor’s Court and the surrounding area are the most likely places, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled and phone cameras at the ready.