Raptors: XVI

My apologies, for missing my posts the last three days. It's the holiday and we had a full house, including our nephew and his wife. But, I've got a bit of a break this morning (it's 5:30) so I'll see if I can get a blog in. Peregrine Falcons are one of the most widespread birds on the planet being found on every continent accept Antarctica. They are stunning to look at and watch. Peregrine Falcons are one of the fastest of all nature's creatures reaching speeds of 200 miles per hour.  Their diet is made up of mid-sized birds for the most part. They have large eyes and very large talons. The draw for them here is (since there is not a lot of water) is mourning doves. Like pigeons in urban areas, the mourning dove probably makes up a significant percentage of its diet. It requires open space in order to hunt, and therefore often hunts over open water, marshes, valleys, ponds, fields, desert, and tundra. It searches for prey either from a high perch or from the air. Once prey is spotted, it begins its stoop, folding back the tail and wings, with feet tucked. The air pressure from a 200 mph dive could possibly damage a bird's lungs, but small bony tubercles on a falcon's nostrils guide the powerful airflow away from the nostrils, enabling the bird to breathe more easily while diving by reducing the change in air pressure. To protect their eyes, the falcons use their third eyelids to spread tears and clear debris from their eyes while maintaining vision. Prey is struck and captured in mid-air; the Peregrine Falcon strikes its prey with a clenched foot, stunning or killing it, then turns to catch it in mid-air. The Peregrine will drop it to the ground and eat it there if it is too heavy to carry. Prey is plucked before consumption.

Peregrine Falcon taken here at The Azure Gate in Tucson

Peregrine Falcon taken at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

The Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite birding spots. It is in the Sacramento Valley and so has many large shallow ponds. It's a haven for waterbirds, and thus birders. Because it attracts thousands of ducks, it is also a haven for the Peregrine Falcon. Christine and watched as this one sat on this telephone pole eyeing which duck he wanted. He then swooped down to one of the ponds, the ducks took off, and like lightening chased and then caught a duck in midair.  

The Peregrine Falcon has been used in falconry for more than 3,000 years, beginning with nomads in central Asia. Due to its ability to dive at high speeds, it was highly sought-after and generally used by experienced falconers.  Also, because it could be trained, Peregrine Falcons have been occasionally used to scare away birds at some airports where there were frequent bird-plane strikes, thus improving air-traffic safety. And, they were used to intercept homing pigeons during World War II.