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Wildlife
- Birds - |
Peregrine Falcon
(Falco peregrinus) Y |
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RANGE: Breeds from northern Alaska, Banks, Victoria, southern
Melville, Somerset and northern Baffin Islands, and Labrador
south to Baja California, southern Arizona, New Mexico, western
and central Texas, and Colorado; recently re-introduced and
re-established as a breeding bird in parts of the northeastern
United States. Winters from southern Alaska, the Queen Charlotte
Islands, coastal British Columbia, the central and southern
United States, and New Brunswick south to South America.
STATUS: Rare and endangered; catastrophic decline primarily due
to organochlorine pesticides.
HABITAT: Usually inhabits open country from tundra and
seacoasts, to high mountains and more open forested regions,
preferably where there are rocky cliffs with ledges overlooking
rivers, lakes, or other water and an abundance of birds.
Sometimes breeds in cities.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Cliffs or other nesting habitat
near water, and an abundance of prey.
NEST: Prefers to nest in a shallow depression scraped in gravel
and debris on a high cliff ledge, pothole, or small cave that
provides sanctuary from disturbance. Bluffs, slopes, pinnacles,
cutbanks, and seastacks are also used as nest sites in the far
north. Other nest sites include old stick nests of ravens and
hawks, ledges of tall buildings, and historically, holes and
stubs of large trees. Tends to return to the same nesting cliff.
FOOD: Pursues prey, primarily birds, after sighting from perch
or while soaring. Small- to medium-sized birds are usually
captured in flight; birds too large to be carried are knocked to
the ground. Feeds on a wide variety of birds; occasionally takes
mammals, some insects, and fishes.
REFERENCES: Adamus et al. 2001, Cade 1960, DeGraff et al. 1980,
Evans 1982, Heintzelman 1979, Hickey 1942, Hickey and Anderson
1969, Miller 1999, Shunk 2004, Terres 1980, White and Cade 1971. |
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