Summarized by Dani S. from an LA Times article by Jon Steinman, November 28, 1997

"Josephine Chen was sitting in her 14th-floor office recently when she saw a burst of gray and white feathers float past her window.

She shuddered, knowing that another pigeon had just been eaten by one of Glendale's resident peregrine falcons.

The habitats of the peregrine, a gull-sized bird that nests on building ledges as easily as on cliffs, may unsettle some like Chen, a building manager. But others see them as helping to control pigeon populations while restoring some of the wildlife that has been lost to city dwellers." Steinman

"They aren't adapting to city life, they are simply doing what they've always done-nesting on ledges," said Brian Walton, director of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group.

According to bird watchers and biologists, the peregrine is becoming one of the success stories of the endangered animal program.

"They're a fantastic success story and will probably be coming off the endangered list next year," said Walton.

25 years ago, the peregrines were nearly wiped out when the pesticide DDT poisoned the wild population to the brink of extinction. Today about 1,500 pairs now live nationwide, according to the group.

DDT was pulled off the market in 1972 after ornithologists decried the compound's lethal effects on wildlife, Walton said.

"There are a handful of peregrines nesting throughout Los Angeles County, maybe 10 to 15 pairs," said Chanelle Davis, biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game. "They can be found in downtown L.A., Glendale and under the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro. They're doing quite well."

"They're all over urban landscapes," said Robert Mesta, a biologist with the agency. "The skyscrapers are perfect for them. They act as cliffs and the pigeons, which are all over the cities, are an ideal food source."

"Glendale had a real bad pigeon problem and these falcons showed up and just decimated the population," said Jack Kozaker, chief engineer of the Brand Boulevard skyscraper where Chen works. "As far as we're concerned, the peregrines have really helped. Those pigeons make a serious waste problem. The defecate on buildings and cars and people walking on the street."