MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – The population of the peregrine falcon in Vermont, once considered an endangered species, continues to grow.

A record number of 32 territorial pairs were spotted in the state in 2005. Twenty-six pairs nested and 23 raised young.

“We had a record 61 young peregrines survive to fly from their nest,” said Doug Blodgett, wildlife biologist for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department in a news release. “Six nesting sites were particularly productive, fledging four young birds each.”

The Vermont population of the bird was wiped out in the 1960s by the use of the pesticide DDT.

The last wild adult was spotted on Mount Pisgah in Westmore in 1970.

Ninety-three young bird were released in Vermont in the 1980s to help restore the peregrine to the state.

A pair took over the cliffs of Mount Pisgah in 1984, and nested there the following year. The breeding population has gradually increased since then.

The bird was removed from the state’s endangered and threatened species list in 2005.