Hi Everyone -

For any new staff, interns, or volunteers that don't know me, my name is Gavin Emmons and I lead up the raptor monitoring program for Pinnacles National Park (PINN). The following update details the status of breeding raptor activity at the park so far this season.

Prairie falcons (PRFA) and peregrine falcons (PEFA) have returned to nesting territories and have settled into incubating eggs at cliff cavity nest sites. Raptor advisories are in effect to help protect these magnificent raptors from disturbance, and advisory signs are posted at Balconies and near Little Pinnacles / Yaks Wall. For current advisories in effect, refer to the PINN raptor advisories page - and feel free to ask me for further clarifications.

For the 2026 season, PRFA and PEFA have been confirmed occupying six and four territories respectively. Most of the falcon pairs have selected nesting sites and are incubating eggs, with a couple pairs late in their breeding patterns and potentially still selecting sites for nesting. For information on territory locations and rock formations, refer to Brad Young's climber's guidebook to Pinnacles.

PRFA and PEFA breeding efforts for 2026 are listed below:

• Egg / Teapot Dome: PRFA pair, nest confirmed
• South Balconies: PRFA pair, nest confirmed
• Crowley Towers: PRFA pair, nest confirmed
• Willow Spring Slide: PRFA pair, nest confirmed
• Drywall Slide: PRFA pair, not nesting, potentially preparing for late season nesting effort
• Gargoyle / Piedras Bonitas Cliffs: PRFA pair, nest confirmed
• Little Pinnacles / Yaks Wall / The Hand: PEFA pair, nest confirmed
• Hawkins Peak: PEFA pair, nest confirmed
• General / North Balconies: PEFA pair, nest confirmed
• North Chalone Peak: PEFA pair, nest confirmed

As noted above, climbing and hiking advisories are in effect for the 2026 season. The official park website reflects current advisories in effect, as do the Friends of Pinnacles and Mud 'n Crud websites (linked to on the Pinnacles website). Let me know if you have further questions.

PRFA and PEFA are actively defending territories and will alarm call or dive at intruders (including people!) that get too close to their nest sites. See photo gallery below.

In addition to PRFA and PEFA, other raptor species actively breeding right now in the park include American kestrels, red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, and great horned owls. We have also confirmed a golden eagle pair nesting in the park, always a treat as they nest within the park boundaries infrequently.

We have a couple forest hawk species that nest later in the season at the park as well.

Raptor Monitoring Photos (click images to enlarge) - All photos by Gavin Emmons ©2025
PEFA male adult perched at a cliff cavity nest scold-calling while defending the site. The male's coloration is more bold and vibrant - this is typical for many raptor species.	PEFA female adult banking up to perch near the PEFA male.
PEFA female adult perched at a cliff ledge nest site with her clutch of 3 eggs. She briefly flew from the nest site to stretch before returning to continue egg incubation. Note that this site is more open than the enclosed cavity for the PEFA pair. Big shoutout to Tim Huntington from Ventana Wildlife Society for his work sleuthing out the location of this nest site - thanks Tim!!	PRFA female clutching prey
PRFA female adult	Adult golden eagle flying from incubating at the nest site.
Cooper's hawk female adult perching at a nesting territory and eyeing me warily.

This year a number of people have been assisting with raptor monitoring at Pinnacles - Mike Baird, Sienna Carrillo, Eliza Wesemann, and Joseph Belli. Kaitlin Lopez, Alacia Welch, Paul Johnson, Linda Regan, and other staff and neighbors have also been very helpful in notifying me of raptor encounters at the park. A special thank you (as mentioned above) to Tim Huntington from Ventana Wildlife Society for confirming a new PEFA nest in the High Peaks. I really appreciate all of the assistance and efforts in confirming raptor status at the park!!

Thank you to all the staff who have continued to provide me with raptor observations; every detail on raptor behavior helps to provide a more complete picture of raptor breeding at the park. If anyone on staff wishes to report raptor or other observations, I would greatly appreciate it if you please email details of observations including species, date, location, and times. Your reports help us comprehensively track raptor activity at the park over the years.

If you have any observations within the park to report, or any raptor-related questions, please contact me via email or extension 4279. Thanks!