From Opus

Falco peregrinus

Photo by RMD Nhulunbuy NT, Australia.

Range

North Central and South America, Eurasia, Africa and Australasia.

In North America breeds in Alaska, northern and western Canada and western coastal Greenland. In the USA breeds on the Pacific coast and in the Rocky Mts south to Arizona. More widespread in winter in the southern and eastern USA. In Mexico breeds in Baja California and on islands in the Gulf of California, possibly also in the mountains of central America. Rare migrant and winter visitor elsewhere in Central America, in the West Indies and the coast of northern South America. Breeds in South America in southern parts of Chile and Argentina and on the Falkland Islands and migrate north through the Andes to Colombia, possibly Venezuela.

Widespread over much of Eurasia but range very patchy in some areas and populations low in many countries. A summer visitor to northern Scandinavia and across northern Russia including southern Novaya Zemlya. Resident, partial migrant or dispersive in remainder of range. Breeds in the British Isles, especially coastal Ireland and north and west Scotland, parts of southern France and the Alps and over much of Iberia, Italy and the western Mediterranean islands. Further east breeds in Poland and Belarus, Slovakia, patchily in the Balkans and Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and the Caucasus. In North Africa mainly coastal in range from north Morocco to Tunisia. The first breeding for the Channel Islands since the 1950s took place in 1997 and the first for Denmark since 1969 occurred in 2002. In winter much more widespread and occurs from lowland Britain south to the Mediterranean and east to the Caspian. Vagrants have been recorded in Iceland and the Faroes, the Azores and Madeira.

Breeds across northern Asia from the Urals to the Russian Far East, Kamchatka and Sakhalin. Also breeds in Japan, Korea and much of China. Absent from much of Central Asia but widespread in the south from the southern Arabian Peninsula to India and southern China. Northern populations are migratory and winter within breeding range of southern birds and throughout South-East Asia. Breeds in the Philippines, mountain areas of north Borneo and Sulawesi, north and west Sumatra, Java and Bali.

Also breeds in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands and in much of Australia and Tasmania but scarce in the arid interior of the continent. Populations in many areas are now recovering after the pesticide-induced crash of the twentieth century.

In sub-Saharan Africa ranges from Ghana to northern Ethiopia and south to the Cape and breeds on the Cape Verde Islands and Madagascar.

Habitat

Usually requires cliff-faces for breeding, along coasts and inland but uses trees in some areas. Hunts over a range of open habitats including cultivated land and grassland, marshes and wetlands, beaches and the sea, anywhere that attracts large numbers of birds to prey upon.

Subspecies

About 17 races are recognised: In North America F. p. anatum breeds across much of the continent, pealei on the Pacific coast and tundrius in the far north. Race cassini breeds in southern South America. The nominate race peregrinus breeds over Europe and western Asia, calidus in Siberia and japonensis in eastern Asia. F. p. brookei breeds around the Mediterranean and peregrinator from India to southern China. Tropical African race is minor, madens breeds on the Cape Verde Islands and radama in Madagascar and the Comoros. F. p. ernesti breeds in the Philippines, Indonesia and New Guinea, nesiotis in Vanuatu, the Loyalty Islanbds and New Caledonia, furuitii on Volcano Island, macropus in Australia and submelanogenys in south-west Australia.

First breeding in CHANNEL ISLANDS.

I discovered Peregrines breeding in Guernsey in the Channel Islands on 28/6/1997 when they raised 2 young. Records can be found at 'La Societe Guernesiaise' ornithological section, Guernsey. I monitored the Peregrines from 1997 to 2003. Year 2000 as first year breeding since 1959 is incorrect.

Originally posted by graham.v

Bird Song

External Links

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