• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

'New' habitats and hunting methods for Peregrines? (1 Viewer)

I am also lucky enough to see Peregrines hunting on an almost daily basis. The breedng pair in Birkenhead routinely hunt over my house as far as I can tell, and some of the N Wales pairs make an appearance. I see three main hunting strategies.

1. The classic Peregrine stoop.. though of couse unless you are very obserant you only observe the last second or two of the hunt. This technique is used most often against pigeons.

2. Merlin style chasing of waders, usually by young birds and with very limited success. Always when I have a good calidrid on the deck too!

3. Sparrowhawk style ambush. The male of the local pair uses my garden as an attack route at high tide. Its about 20ft from the gate to the front of the high tide wader roost and he goes through about 2cm off the ground at enormous speed. He got a Knot 5 times out of 5 last autumn.
 
Ranger James said:
Mal, Could you provide a bit more info about this tescos? I am coming up to Ormskirk at the weekend to look around wedding venues with my fiancé - I could do with the chance to escape for a bit of merlin watching, and get to see some other little blighter getting caught!

James
Click to expand...

James

Anywhere along the B5195 between Lydiate and Formby can be good. You could also try Marshside at Southport, which is quite good at the moment.

Mal
 
Jane Turner said:
I am also lucky enough to see Peregrines hunting on an almost daily basis. The breedng pair in Birkenhead routinely hunt over my house as far as I can tell, and some of the N Wales pairs make an appearance. I see three main hunting strategies.

1. The classic Peregrine stoop.. though of couse unless you are very obserant you only observe the last second or two of the hunt. This technique is used most often against pigeons.

2. Merlin style chasing of waders, usually by young birds and with very limited success. Always when I have a good calidrid on the deck too!

3. Sparrowhawk style ambush. The male of the local pair uses my garden as an attack route at high tide. Its about 20ft from the gate to the front of the high tide wader roost and he goes through about 2cm off the ground at enormous speed. He got a Knot 5 times out of 5 last autumn.
Click to expand...


Jane

On the mosslands It's usually style No 3 that I see, but also No 2 to a lesser degree. The still hunting start from the pylon from which to locate prey doesn't really allow for No 1 to be used that often. How did the Birkenhead pair do last year? I did see a displaying pair of Peregrines right in the City Centre of Liverpool (above the Pig and Whistle if you know it?) last year which could have been the Birkenhead pair, or even the Liverpool pair. I understand the established Liverpool pair failed last year, but it wouldn't surprise me if there are others that I don't know about.

Mal
 
Mal Taylor said:
For Peregrines to approach their prey below the skyline in flat terrain makes perfect sense. I have seen most of my Peregrines in the mountainous regions of the Lake District of North West England, and the classic Peregrine stoop used by these birds is to me one of the highlights of the birding world. I would imagine that the birds I currently watch in the flat mosslands of Lancashire are an 'overspill' from the 'saturated' areas of Lakeland and North Wales, although I could give you no definate proof to back up my assumption.It is fascinating that these birds have so rapidly adapted to adjust to a completely different landscape. A hunting Peregrine in the middle of summer over flat arable farmland, several miles from the coast is not something I would have ever expected to see on a regular basis.

With Peregrines using urban and industrial sites for breeding in many parts of the country where will this expansion end, and what will the next 'Breeding Birds Atlas for Great Britain' look like?
Click to expand...

My own feeling is that they are just re-colonising areas and not adjusting to an 'alien' landscape.
Peregrines subsisting on coastal waders & wildfowl and seabirds may have largely escaped the ravages of pesticides and bred successfully over the years.
Whereas their farmland cousins may not have fared so well, hence less sightings.
I'd expect to see behaviour such as ground nesting and pursuit hunting reported much more commonly in the future if this is the case.
 
Canary Island Peregrine recovery

The Barbary Falcon (breeding on all of the Canary Islands and associated islets) is considered by some to be a subspecies of the Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus. The Canarian population of Barbary Falcon is represented by race F. Pelegrinus pelegrinus (North Africa to Iran), although recent studies on Fuerteventura show that both Barbary and Peregrine Falcons are present on the island, with the latter perhaps escaped birds from private collections. Peregrine Falcons are recorded as winter migrants to the islands and the similar Lanner Falco Biarmicus has also been seen. The Cape Verde peregrine Falco peregrinus madens is down a few dozen pairs.
 
At Slimbridge, the wintering peregrines sit on the saltings or fenceposts and seem to launch relatively low level sorties. I suspect these adult birds are very skilled at spotting prey individuals that are in poor condition. On two occasions, I have seen a peregrine sitting around for over an hour, then just get up, fly across the estuary, catch a bird and come back. I've never been quick enough to see the actual kill, but they are achieved very quickly.
Pete
 
Blackpool peregrines

Hi Mal,
In Blackpool Peregrines nested on a town centre church. They frequently 'dropped' and took pigeons from the paved area. Blackpool Tower has been used as a perch with a peregrine seen landing at 380' level, just below first passenger observation level. Method of hunting at this height unknown but maintenance workers have found a noticable amount of remains in that area. During past six months I've observed a pair of peregrines on a local pylon mainly 'loafing' and preening, but single sorties have been launched and prey taken. What I found interesting was they perch on the lowest but biggest cross section and from this position drop to attack low passing or ground feeding birds. I have never seen them use the full pylon height to launch a sortie.
Cheers Al
 
Warning! This thread is more than 19 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

A
Intelligence in birds of prey
Replies
4
Views
2K
adumbperson
A
D
UK Bird of Prey help
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
Daz001
D
C
Red Kite hunting behaviour
Replies
6
Views
2K
Neil22
N
P
An Interesting Detail Regarding Feeding by Brown Pelicans
Replies
1
Views
725
pbgrebe
P
dragnil
Urgent - the birds in Italy need your help
Replies
4
Views
562
SueO
SueO

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top