Slechtvalken Falco peregrinus broeden succesvol in draaiende hijskraan

In 2017 a pair of Peregrine Falcons bred on a small platform in an operational crane on a shipyard along the Merwede river near Hardinxveld-Giessendam, western Netherlands. It is unknown whether the crane was already in use when the Peregrines started nesting. The male had been ringed as nestling in 2015, at a nesting site 42 km away; the female had been ringed in Belgium. Three chicks were raised successfully, with the crane fully operational and moving about on rails. The nest, an old Carrion Crow’s Corvus corone nest, was situated in the immovable top section of the crane, close to the moving arm. As far as we know, this was the first pair of Peregrines breeding on a crane in The Netherlands, where most pairs occupy nestboxes (buildings, masts), cavities and alcoves (industrial buildings) and disused crow’s nests (mostly in electricity pylons).