Displaying items by tag: fluffy peregrine chicks

 In an August 19, 1984, newspaper article from the Bristol Herald Courier, Bob Shumate and Rick Knight are pictured observing reintroduced peregrine falcon chicks at a hacking site in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Courtesy Bristol Herald Courier

Greenbrier Pinnacle in Great Smokies was epicenter of decades-long recovery effort

Holly Kays is the lead writer for Smokies Life.

GATLINBURG — With striking white-and-gray plumage, yellow beaks and talons, and powerfully compact bodies, peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) are beautiful birds in any posture. But they’re downright magical in the air—aerial acrobats capable of reaching 200 mph as they dive down onto their prey. For Johnson City, Tennessee, ornithologist Rick Knight, such sightings are especially rich in meaning.

“It’s like watching one of my kids or grandkids making his own in the world,” he said.

In the summer of 1984, Knight was 28 years old, an East Tennessee farm boy with a bachelor’s degree in biology and an abiding love for the outdoors. When he learned about an opportunity to get paid to spend all summer camping in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, he jumped at the chance.

The job revolved around four fluffy peregrine falcon chicks, which wildlife managers hoped would become the first wild peregrines to soar over the Smokies in decades. The Smokies reintroduction was a joint effort of the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and The Peregrine Fund.