LEWISTON – The high peaks of the city’s steeples must feel like home to the endangered peregrine falcon.

The speedy raptors – known for their ability to power-dive over unsuspecting ducks and pigeons – keep returning to the city’s spires. In the past five years, the city has hosted at least five peregrines, said Charlie Todd, a wildlife biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

“Lewiston seems to jump off the map for them,” Todd said.

The peaks of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Lewiston City Hall and especially the Franco-American Heritage Center have become hangouts for the falcons.

They have become birthplaces as well.

Over the summer, three baby peregrines hatched in a nest high in the Franco Center steeple, Todd said.

“They were a family for five weeks,” Todd said. “Then the little ones flew off, probably for New York.”

The falcons’ existence here signals a rebirth of sorts for the endangered bird. In the 1950s and ’60s, the birds faced worldwide extinction, largely due to the use of DDT. The pesticide thinned the shells of their eggs. Few hatched.

As late as 1986, there were none in Maine, Todd said.

“They were never abundant in Maine,” he said. Part of that is because the birds are drawn to few places, mostly high, sheer cliffs. But as the birds were re-introduced into the wild, they’ve become citified. Many are living in tall buildings and feeding off a city’s abundant food: particularly the common pigeon.

Today, there are 23 peregrine sites in Maine. They include several mountain peaks in Oxford County and the cliffs of Acadia National Park. Their Maine homes also include the Casco Bay Bridge in Portland and right here in Lewiston-Auburn.

These birds look like nothing else in the city.

Gray and sleek with white chests and throats, the adults weigh between 20 and 35 ounces and have wingspans of 35 to 46 inches. They mate for life. And they are among the fastest creatures on Earth.

It’s their change – from cliff to steeple – that captivates birder Stan DeOrsey of Lewiston.

DeOrsey, an active member of Lewiston-Auburn’s Stanton Bird Club, has spent countless hours examining local birds. For the 28th year, the club has been counting local robins, finches and crows.

The first peregrines appeared in the 2004 tally. None were in this year’s count, held on Dec. 20. (They did see 2,889 crows, however.)

A club member spotted a peregrine on Dec. 19, perched on the cross above the Franco Center, DeOrsey said.

The cross is a favorite perch, Todd said.

The biologist has spent hours focused on the current pair of falcons. They aren’t the first to come here.

The first three have died or moved on. Todd knows a bit about the female in the current couple. The falcon was banded shortly after her birth on a cliff-side nest in Vermont, he said. Some photos clearly show the rubber tag on her left leg.

She is 4 years old, and she’s from away, Todd said.