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18 | /insight on manufacturing • July 2014 w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m which have produced an average of three successful hatches a year. As chicks from previous hatches have matured and le the nest, they have been tracked as far away as Chicago. While a nesting pair will return to the same site year aer year, their offspring usually will not return to nest in the same area. ose that survive generally will be found 100 to 200 miles away, though some Wisconsin-hatched falcons have been found as far away as Pennsylvania. For Greg Septon, a peregrine falcon researcher who bands and tracks the birds across the state, the chicks are a welcome sign the species is continuing its rebound in the central United States. e Midwest was part of the birds' natural habitat until the latter half of the 20th century, when it was found that DDT exposure made egg shells so thin the birds would crush them in the nest when trying to keep them warm. Last year, the state's 32 nesting pairs hatched 98 chicks, Septon says – quite a far cry from when he first started working with the birds in 1987 and there had not been a nesting pair in Wisconsin in 25 years. "eir natural habitat is the cliffs along the river," Septon says. "Today, we have all of these urban cliffs such as tall buildings or bridges they have adapted to. ey seem to do well in urban areas. "Of course, they do a lot better when people build them a nesting box," he says. Another reason the falcons may favor urban areas is the availability of prey. ey prey on other birds, and Moore notes the urban pigeon population has declined around the mill since the peregrines took up residence. Taking flight S ome new residents soon will be swooping in on the neighbors from the urban cliffs of Green Bay's industrial heart. A nesting pair of peregrine falcons – an endangered species in Wisconsin – that call the top of Georgia-Pacific's Broadway mill home have successfully hatched four chicks this year, the most since a nest was discovered at the site in 2008. In June, the four chicks were given identification bands that can be used to help track their movements and learn more about the species. ere are now 32 mating pairs of peregrine falcons in Wisconsin since they were reintroduced to the state in 1991. "is is the first time we've ever had four hatch successfully," says Mike Moore, an environmental engineer with Georgia-Pacific. "Unfortunately, the survival rate is pretty low through the first year." As many as 70 percent of new peregrine falcon chicks do not survive the first year. "Peregrine" means "wanderer," and the species is known to travel widely outside of the nesting season. It is also one of the fastest birds, known to reach speeds of more than 200 mph when diving aer its prey. At Georgia-Pacific's Broadway mill, the company built a nesting box with a perch for its nesting pair, Jace, Horos, Carson and Cofrin, the four peregrine chicks hatched at Georgia-Pacific's Green Bay Broadway mill, pose for a "family picture." Employees hold a contest each year to name the newly hatched chicks. B y S e a n P . J o h n S o n P h o t o g r a P h s c o u r t e s y o f g e o r g i a - Pa c i f i c Georgia-Pacific's Broadway mill hosts a family of peregrine falcons