The Peregrine Fund developed from the shared concern that the Peregrine Falcon might go extinct in the wild if nothing was done. Our initial work was to learn how to breed falcons in captivity, with the idea the young could be released in the wild to re-establish the Peregrine in the eastern United States where it was already gone and to bolster the greatly diminished western populations. Our name came from a financial account at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology--the peregrine fund account. In 1984, we consolidated our Cornell facility and our Ft. Collins, Colorado facility to our current location in Boise, Idaho--the World Center for Birds of Prey.

Since those early days a great deal has happened. We learned that raptors can function as monitors of environmental health and that their conservation can create an umbrella of protection for life's diversity. Birds of prey are an excellent focus for conservation actions and scientific research.