A female peregrine falcon, nicknamed “Nike,” will be released at 10 a.m. Monday at Moraine State Park, culminating two years of rehabilitation.

Nike hatched near Canton, Ohio, in 2019 and was banded as a nestling. A week after she left the nest, she suffered an injury to her head and spine. With treatment, she recovered, but missed out on a critical stage of development when she would have learned to hunt while still receiving food support from her parents.

Because peregrines hunt by flying steeply at avian prey, and can reach speeds of up to 240 mph, it is not possible to give a rehabilitated peregrine hunting practice in an enclosure.

She was transferred from her Ohio wildlife rehabilitator to Tamarack Wildlife Center in northwestern Pennsylvania, since TWC works with falconers who could give the bird “real world” hunting experience.

Peregrines have made a comeback since being listed as endangered species in 1972. Pennsylvania had no nesting pairs from 1959 to 1987. Thanks to reintroduction efforts, the population has expanded in the state.