The Peregrine falcons nesting at Dairyland's John P. Madgett (JPM) power plant in Alma, Wis., have fledged their nest, bringing the total number of falcons who have fledged from Dairyland’s Peregrine Falcon Restoration Program to 153.  

The falcons will remain nearby until the fall, when they migrate to South America. Juvenile falcons remain in South America for the first two years of their lives before returning back to the area. 

A camera is installed at the Alma power plant location to capture “real time” online birdwatching at the nesting box. The link to the Bird Cam will remain active until the falcons migrate south.

Members of the Raptor Resource Project banded the four Peregrine falcon chicks in June at Dairyland’s Alma Site. The four chicks, three males (Genoa, Roger, Decklin) and one female (Evelyn) are all in good health. Banding of the Peregrine falcon chicks provides a way to identify the birds after they leave the nesting box. The bands are marked with a code and recorded in a national database that includes the sex and banding location. These codes are used to help track and monitor individual birds after they fledge and disperse.

About the Peregrine Falcon Restoration Program
Dairyland has been fostering the return of the Peregrine falcon to its natural territory along the Upper Mississippi since the 1990s. Once commonly seen in our region, the use of the pesticide DDT put the falcon on the Wisconsin Endangered and Threatened Species list in 1975. Nesting boxes were installed hundreds of feet up the stacks at Dairyland’s Alma and Genoa generating stations, and in 1997, a pair of Peregrine falcons produced chicks, marking the first successful Peregrine hatch in Western Wisconsin in 25 years. Since then, 153 chicks have fledged from Dairyland sites.

Historically, Dairyland has had nesting boxes at both Alma and Genoa locations. Due to the closure of the Genoa Station #3 power plant (G-3) in June 2021, the box has been removed. Dairyland and the Raptor Resource Project are looking into future locations or uses for the G-3 nesting box.