In 2000 the first pair was detected on the Edifici Torre Catalunya in the Plaça dels Països Catalans. The female and male were individuals released on the Princesa Sofía Hotel, the female in the same year of 2000 and the male the year before.
The pair was observed during 2000, 2001 and 2002 but never managed to breed due to human disturbances. In 2003, the façade of the building was renovated and the pair disappeared. They have not been seen in the city since.
In 2001 a second pair was detected. The pair was located within the municipal district of Sant Adrià del Besòs, specifically on top of one of the chimneys of Sant Adrià de Besòs Power Station, just behind the beach and by the mouth of the River Besòs. The male had been released in Sagrada Família in 1999 while the female was "wild", that is, it was not one of the individuals released as part of the reintroduction project. This pair bred for the first time in 2003, thus becoming the first to nest in Barcelonès County since 1973. The pair bred again here in 2004 and 2005.
In the autumn of 2003, the third pair was observed in the Hotel Arts in the Olympic Port. The male had been released in the Port in 2001 while the female was "wild". In 2004 this pair chose the Montjuïc sea cliff to breed, becoming the first nesting pair in the city of Barcelona since the species' extinction in 1973. The pair definitively established themselves in this territory and in 2005 bred once again.
In the autumn of 2003 another pair was spotted in the area of Diagonal Mar in Poble Nou. The female and male had been released in the Port, the female in 2001 and the male in 2002. In 2004 this pair chose the Torre Macosa in Poble Nou to breed. In the autumn of 2004 the female died and was replaced by a new female of a "wild" origin. In 2005 this new pair bred once again in the same site.
Finally, in the autumn of 2004, the fourth and final known pair was formed. They moved into the Church of Sagrada Família. The male had been released in the Port in 2001 and the female was again "wild". This pair bred for the first time in 2005, in the bell tower of Sant Bartomeu on the Façade of the Passion.
In summary, a total of 26 Peregrine chicks have hatched in the city of Barcelona between 2004 and 2006, all of which have been ringed to aid their later monitoring.
Home
