Fall 2025
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Get to Know the MGE Falcons
Which animal can travel up to 200 miles per hour, is found on all but one continent and is listed as endangered in Wisconsin? The peregrine falcon!
MGE’s Falcon Program
MGE’s peregrine falcon program began in 1999 when an employee and his son built a nesting box for a school project. MGE then installed the box atop MGE’s Blount Generating Station in downtown Madison.
Including three in 2025, MGE has seen 61 falcon chicks hatch at Blount since 2009. Falcon expert Greg Septon typically visits the plant in spring to band the chicks for tracking throughout their lifetimes.
For the past 10 years, the same falcon pair has returned to Blount for the spring nesting season. Loyal fans from near and far keep tabs on egg-laying, hatching and fledging activity via a livestream camera housed in the nesting box.
Your class can follow along at mge.com/falcons to watch the falcon cam, read the latest updates and review fun falcon facts.
Back from the Brink
The use of DDT pesticide beginning in the 1940s eradicated peregrine falcons. Falcons were reintroduced to Wisconsin in the 1980s, and while they are listed as endangered in Wisconsin, they have made a slow, steady comeback due to statewide efforts and nesting boxes like the one at MGE’s Blount Generating Station.
