The smaller male arrives first and courts females by performing aerial displays consisting of loops, dives and rolls. The pair may return to the same cliff in subsequent years, though they do not stay together after nesting. In the Northeast, nesting begins in late March. Within a week, females lay three to four creamy white to pale pink eggs, speckled with brown blotches. Incubation lasts 33 to 34 days.
Females usually incubate the eggs while the males hunt, bringing food to their mates.
If the first clutch of eggs is destroyed, a second may be laid. Chicks stay in the aerie six to seven weeks after hatching. Both parents hunt and feed the young. Competition for food is great among siblings. Sometimes, only one or two young will fledge.