Minster Peregrines

In 2015, a pair of Peregrines attempted to breed on York Minster. There had been birds present since the previous year and they were monitored by several people, most notably at the time by Jack Ashton-Booth, who set up the Twitter (now X) feed to share information about them. This has been run by Doug Crawford, who puts in many hours observing the birds almost daily.

Male Peregrine on York Minster
Male Peregrine, Minster © Jack Ashton-Booth, Nov 2014

That year, they did show signs that they had built a nest and could have laid but the attempt failed. A nesting platform was put up in 2016 which hopefully would give them a better chance than laying on the accumulated sludge of centuries of pigeon droppings.

Peregrines have been present on the Minster ever since, it is thought that the male has been the same bird throughout but there have been different females at the site.

Female Peregrine on York Minster
Female Peregrine, Minster © Jack Ashton-Booth, Mar 2014

If you have access to X, you can keep up to date by following Doug’s postings. He ran a website for several years but he has now decomissioned it. However, he has very kindly given permission for the YorkBirding website to use his content; the two paragraphs below have been copied from his site.

Breeding Summary

The peregrines on York Minster have bred successfully since 2017.

Typically the eggs are laid towards the end of March, hatching at the end of April. The young Peregrines fledge early in June, and remain around the Minster until late summer, although some may stay longer.

In the first successful year, 2017, the eggs were laid unusually late, in early May, after a new female Peregrine arrived.

  • 2015 – Failed breeding attempt. At least 1 chick hatched. Nest abandoned.
  • 2016 – Nest tray installed on 30-March. No breeding attempt.
  • 2017 – Two chicks, 1 ringed (on 24-July after fledging) GV44738
  • 2018 – Four chicks, (weighed & ringed 30-May) PSX, PTX, PVX, PXX
  • 2019 – Four chicks, (weighed & ringed 22-May) PDX, P3X, TBA, TCA
  • 2020 – Four chicks, 3 ringed (after fledging early June) PFX, PLX, P6X
  • 2021 – Four chicks, (weighed & ringed 15-May) PCX, PJX, P4X, P7X
  • 2022 – Four chicks, (weighed & ringed 24-May) TJZ, TLZ, TNZ, TRZ
  • 2023 – Two chicks, (weighed & ringed 22-May) PHX, TSZ
  • 2024 – Failed breeding attempt. 1 egg laid, but adult male disappeared. (TSZ still present)

All ‘three character’ darvic rings are black text on orange.

Where to see the Peregrines

Although the Peregrines have been seen perched on each side of all three of York Minster’s towers, they are most often seen on the north face of the north-west bell tower. This is best viewed from Dean’s Park, which is usually open from around 07:30 to 19:30 each day.

The Peregrines perch rather high up, so binoculars are needed to see them, and standing quite far back from the building is recommended as this will give you a better view – and stop you from getting a sore neck from looking up!

The female peregrine is most often seen perched on one of the large grotesques which project from each side of the belfry window.

The grotesque to the left of the belfry window is sometime referred to as ‘the thoughtful man’.

The grotesque to right of the belfry window has suffered more erosion. When the falcon sits at the back of the grotesques, she can be difficult to see unless you are viewing from exactly the right spot.

@YorkPeregrines can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) but we are no longer able to display the timeline.