Each spring, Devils Tower National Monument (AKA – Bear Lodge Butte) in northeastern Wyoming welcomes back a familiar pair of visitors. Since 2013, one pair of Peregrine falcons have made the Tower their home to court, breed, and nest before the harsh Winter weather returns.
I was lucky enough to study these falcons during a volunteer opportunity with the National Park Service in April of 2017. The focus of our work was creating behavioral logs on the birds over the course of the day and identifying their nesting site. While neck cramps from the telescope and finding ticks on our paperwork were common, being able to observe the things that make Peregrine falcons distinct was well worth it.
Devils Tower National Monument (AKA – Bear Lodge Butte) was founded as the first United States National Monument on September 24th, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Compared to the otherwise flat and sparse landscape that surrounds the area, the Tower makes quite the impression, standing at 867 feet tall and surrounded by dense numbers of fragrant pine, juniper, aspen, and oak trees.
Devils Tower in Northeastern Wyoming
While the Tower is home to many species of local wildlife, such as prairie dogs, white-tailed deer, and foxes, many people also flock to the Tower each year to take in its impressive features and even climb up its sides. As you may have noticed in the picture above, the face of the Tower has many columns running from the base to the top. Each of the cracks in between the columns is used for climbing, often with a unique name given to them by the pioneer climbers who ascended them for the first time, such as “Psychedelic Turbulence” and “California Dreaming.”
When the weather is warm and sunny, you’ll usually always see climbers slowly making their way towards the top of the Tower to take in a birds-eye (or should I say, falcons-eye) view of the northeastern Wyoming scenery. There are only two times during the year where you may not see this familiar sight; the Native American sacred month of June, where National Park Service employees request climbers to enjoy the Tower from the surrounding paths and whenever the Peregrine falcons have chosen a nesting spot, as many climbers have been attacked by falcons defending their young.
Peregrine falcons are the largest falcon species in the United States and can be identified by their beautiful blue-gray coat and barred (lined) underbelly. On the famous TV Series “Planet Earth,” Sir David Attenborough described Peregrine falcons as the “jet fighters” of the avian world. Since the main staple of the falcon’s diet is other birds, they need to be fast, REALLY fast, to catch them – Peregrines have been clocked-in at an astonishing 240 mph when diving at prey. When choosing a nesting spot, Peregrines are attracted to skyscrapers, water towers, cliffs, and other tall structures… making Devils Tower an ideal spot to build their nest.
Peregrine Falcon near its nest
I was lucky enough to see these birds zipping after their prey multiple times when conducting the behavioral survey at the Tower; it was an impressive and memorable sight, although trying to keep the falcons in view of the telescope proved to be harder than I thought it would be due to their sheer speed! We also found their nesting site and helped park employees spread awareness to the climbing route closures to protect both the falcons and park visitors.
Except for 2019, the Peregrine falcons have returned to the Tower and nested every year to the delight of park visitors and the employees who work to protect them. Currently, the Falcons are back and nesting and hopefully will continue to add to the natural majesty of the Tower for years to come.
