| Intro | Comments by Phil Regal | Comments by Doug Mock | Book Dedication |
This book is dedicated to distinguished ornithologist Dr. Harrison B. (Bud) Tordoff. Bud grew up In Mechanicville, New York. He received a B. S. from Cornell University in 1946 and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1950. During World War II, Bud was a fighter pilot with the 8th Air Force in Europe and became an ace after downing five enemy aircraft.
He served as a member of the faculty at the University of Kansas (1950 to 1957), the University of Michigan (1957 to 1970), and at the University of Minnesota (from 1970 until his retirement in 1987). At the University of Minnesota he served as the Director of the Bell Museum of Natural History.
Bud is a life-long admirer of Peregrine Falcons because of their flying skills and their beauty. He helped lead the Midwestern effort that started at Cornell University. That effort would restore a population of Peregrines wiped out by DDT poisoning in the mid-twentieth century.
Since he retired, Bud has continued to track and document the growth of the Midwestern population of Peregrines from a state of no nesting pairs to a healthy and growing population of about 210 nesting pairs that raised more than 340 young in 2007.
The Peregrine Falcon is a very special bird that embodies the ultimate avian qualities of speed, grace, and power in flight that Bud learned to appreciate as a fighter pilot long ago. Its successful restoration to the Midwest is a lasting legacy of Bud Tordoff’s dedicated efforts. Thanks, Bud.