The peregrine falcon loves Møns Klint!

The peregrine falcon became a symbol of the extermination of wildlife by environmental toxins, when the last pair of falcons in Denmark disappeared from Møns Klint in 1972.

Banning of DDT, better protection and legislation slowly brought the population back in Europe, and the Peregrine falcon re-immigrated to Møns Klint in 2001, and has since bred here with 1-3 pairs.

The first pair, which established itself in 2001, consisted of a female German falcon from Mecklenburg and a Swedish male from Kullen in southern Sweden, but they did not have young until the following year. The male falcon, known as Red A3 because of the code on his ring, formed pairs for ten years on the cliff and had as many as 27 young on its wings.

In 2009, the couple had a litter of 4, and the youngest male with the ring code HK returned in 2012 and will remain the breeding male on the cliff until 2022.

In Denmark, there are now approx. 15 breeding pairs, including on Bornholm, Stevns and in several harbor towns in Jutland, where the falcons breed in set-up nest boxes.

With 389,4 km/h, measured via a chip on a falcon in free fall, the Peregrine Falcon is the fastest creature in the animal kingdom, and you may be lucky enough to see the falcon in its fantastic plunges on a walk along the cliff.

Every season during the breeding period from March to July, the falcons are monitored, and knowledge is gathered about their behavior, prey, young litter etc.

In the GeoCentret's reception you can get information about the season's breeding ground, and here on the page you can get information about dates where there are events and via the link at the bottom of the page, you can get current information about the falcons throughout the breeding period in the Peregrine Falcon Diary.

If you are used to using binoculars, the falcons can often be seen on a hike along the cliff edge or on the beach. Look for tall chalk decorations or overhanging trees that the falcons use as lookouts when spotting birds flying over the sea. And if you are particularly lucky, you can see the Peregrine falcon take off from the lookout and catch up with the bird of prey with quick wing beats and try to hit it in a dramatic dive.

The female is approx. a third larger than the male, and this means that they can hunt a wider range of bird species from pigeons and small ducks to very small sparrows. The majority of birds of prey on Møns Klint are ring dove, blackbird, starling and thrush, and later in the period also barn swallows.

The young fly out during June, and over the summer they disappear to other areas at home and abroad, when they can manage to catch prey themselves. Some may return to the cliff as breeding birds, and the permanent breeding pairs usually stay at the cliff throughout the winter period.