Upcoming Events | Tourism Winnipeg

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Join us to learn more about this fascinating bird of prey with expert Tracy Maconachie.

The Manitoba Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project began in 1981 with the release of four captive-bred peregrine falcon chicks in Winnipeg.  The goal was, and still is, to establish and support a self-sustaining wild population of peregrines in the province.  Since then over 300 chicks, wild-hatched and captive-bred, have been released from locations in southern Manitoba and many of their offspring have returned to nest successfully in locations across the Canadian Prairies and the US Midwest.  But even with forty years of experience and expertise, every year is a new challenge for both the peregrines and the Project and the difference between a successful year, and a tragic one, can be determined by something as random as a gust of wind or as simple as a plastic box with some gravel. 

Please join Tracy Maconachie, Project Coordinator of the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project for an insider’s look at what it’s like to live a life full of peregrines. Tracy joined Manitoba’s Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project in 1991 as a volunteer when the Project needed help to release 30 captive-bred peregrine chicks from locations in Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Gimli.  As a hack-site attendant her job was to monitor, feed and clean up after the fledglings – basically a babysitter to a bunch of adolescent raptors with no table manners. It was the beginning of a 30-year commitment to the peregrines in Manitoba and yet she still looks forward to the peregrines’ return each spring.