The Peregrine is a large, powerful falcon. Peregrines can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour as they plunge out of the sky to catch their prey, making them the fastest animal.
Peregrine is on the Scottish Biodiversity List.
Photo: Chris Gomersall for rspb-images.com
Illustration: Mike Langman for rspb-images.com
Action Needed
We need the grouse moor licensing provisions of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act to be enforced and to serve as an effective wildlife crime deterrent. This also means that Police Scotland need to be adequately resourced to investigate all potential wildlife crime incidents. We need continued funding for satellite tagging of Peregrines, as this is an indispensable tool for population study, and also for identifying potential cases of illegal persecution.
The Scottish Government must report on the population size and range of Peregrine, according to a provision of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act. However, Scottish Government funding is needed for the monitoring that would provide this data.
Operation Glassbeak launched in 2025 and is a joint effort between the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, Police Scotland and other UK police forces, RSPB, Scottish Raptor Study Groups and other similar groups in the rest of the UK, and volunteers to monitor and protect Peregrine nests and take DNA samples from wild Peregrines, so that they can be compared to birds in captivity. We need continued funding for this operation, especially for the DNA testing, along with compliance checks on captive Peregrines by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
Threats
While lowland Peregrines have adapted to life in cities, upland peregrines are still threatened by persecution, usually associated with grouse moors. They’re also targeted by egg collectors and people who take wild chicks to rear in captivity as captive falcons. All of these actions are illegal.
MSP Nature Champion
Member for:
