Illinois to take peregrine falcon off threatened list

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois officials are set to remove the peregrine falcon from the state's threatened species list.

The Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises newspapers (http://bit.ly/1EW30nw ) reports the bird will be taken off the list in the coming weeks after action by a legislative committee. The formal removal process has been going on for more than three years, after the bird has made a comeback in the state.

A report from the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board said 24 breeding pairs of the falcon led to 47 offspring in 2012, up from one pair making two birds in 1988.

The peregrine falcon was once on the U.S. endangered species list, as the use of the pesticide DDT in the mid-20th century caused its population to decline severely.

DDT, which is now banned in agricultural uses, caused eggshells to thin and break more easily, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The falcon was removed from the national threatened and endangered species list in 1999.

Illinois State University zoology professor Angelo Capparella said the peregrine falcon's comeback is a success story of the endangered species designation. He said the birds sometimes stop atop buildings at the school while migrating.

"We have them coming through every winter," Capparrella said.