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Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus

DESCRIPTION:
Peregrine Falcon
Halcón Peregrino
Falco peregrinus
Length: 400mm (male), 500mm (female). Sexes alike. Bill slate grey with black tip; cere and eyelids yellow; iris very dark brown; head, cheeks and broad moustachial stripe black; hind neck black; back, scapulars and uppertail coverts slate grey barred black; rectrices slate grey barred with black and a narrow whitish grey terminal band. Lesser wing coverts black with slate grey margins; remainder of upper part of wing as back; secondaries and primaries with a narrow whitish grey terminal band; lesser underwing coverts buff with black spots; rest of coverts and axillaries whitish grey with very dark grey to blackish transversal bands; underside of secondaries and primaries dark grey with whitish banding; primaries are blackish to dark grey-tipped. Chin, throat and foreneck whitish buff; breast buff with a few fine blackish streaks, in the posterior part of breast, the buff coloration gradually turns light slate grey; all this region shows undulating blackish barring; flanks and thighs light slate grey; abdomen and undertail coverts greyish buff with blackish bars. Tail feathers light slate grey on the underside and barred with dark grey. Legs lemon yellow.
Juveniles: bill and cere paler than adults; head dark brown with crown feathers margined cinnamon buff; nape feathers whitish buff with dark brown spots; hind neck, back and wings dark brown with cinnamon buff margins; secondaries and primaries show a thin whitish buff terminal margin; rectrices very dark brown with whitish buff terminal band and narrow greyish buff banding. Chin, throat and foreneck buff; breast buff striated blackish; flanks cinnamon buff with large lanceolate-shaped blackish brown spots; upper abdomen cinnamon buff with broad blackish striation; lower abdomen and thighs buff with broad blackish striation, undertail coverts buff with transversal blackish bands. Legs yellow.
This species undergoes a light phase whereby adults and immature show the following characteristics: the adult has a yellow bill with blackish tip; cere and eyelids yellow; iris very dark brown; cap whitish grey with blackish streaks and stained with cinnamon on crown and nape; cheeks, chin, throat and foreneck white; postocular band, lower periocular region and narrow moustache blackish; hind neck, back, rectrices, wing coverts and secondaries light slate grey with blackish bands and spots; primaries blackish; breast and flanks white finely striated blackish; abdomen, thighs and undertail coverts white. Legs lemon yellow with yellow greyish nails. The juveniles in the light phase show a white cap stained with ochraceous buff and striated blackish; back, wing coverts and secondaries are ochraceous buff with dark brown spots and bands; primaries are dark brown with ochraceous buff banding; uppertail coverts whitish with blackish bands; rectrices whitish with eleven blackish transversal bands. Breast, flanks, thighs and underparts in general whitish cream finely striated blackish on sides of breast and flanks.
Habitat and behaviour: it is easily identified by its jizz with its robust and conical shape, finely pointed wings, legs with short tarsi and long toes with strong sharp nails. Commonly found solitary or in pairs; noted for its hunting prowess, its flight is vigorous and powerful. It usually rises high above, wheeling up, taking advantage of thermal drafts; upon spotting prey it strives to get above it and then by a lightning swoop it strikes down while in full flight, wings folded, killing the prey swiftly. It also harries prey that dramatically flee in vain unless the victim manages to reach forested areas, where the Falcon gives up the pursuit. However, it is not easy to escape from such a skilled hunter in the open, especially considering that this hunter is capable of zooming at a speed of 280km/h. Its favourite prey are pigeons and ducks, nevertheless it may also prey on all kinds of small birds and larger species such as tinamous, lapwings, some sea birds and domestic fowl. More often than not they are seen hunting in pairs, using very effective strategies.
Man has always been a great admirer of this falcon since ancient times, holding it in great esteem on account of its noble nature and beauty, a hunter that dismisses potential victims if these are under unfavourable conditions and do not react in their presence, trying to hide or run away. They are also capable of being tame if reared as chicks, and so obedient that they are the bird of choice to practice falconry, formerly a sport only for noblemen and kings that is becoming less known in our times.
To nest it chooses rocky ledges, cliffs, slopes in coastal areas, riverbanks, lakes or places not far from water bodies; nowadays it also nests and roosts on urban high-rises such as window ledges. Females lay eggs in nests placed in ledges and cavities in rock walls or directly in a hollow scratched in the soil; clutch size up to four creamy eggs with profuse brown and reddish mottling; both parents take care of incubation and rearing
of nestlings. The light phase of the Peregrine Falcon (race Falco peregrinus cassini) is a rare variation of the plumage in this species. In 1925, the German Karl Strauss sent a chick in the light phase to the zoo at Munster; some years later two more chicks from the same nest were added to the zoo’s collection, all of them from Punta Arenas, Chile. These chicks survived to adulthood still in the light phase, which started the enigma, as yet another specimen was collected by the distinguished ornithologist Claës Olrog at Estancia Viamonte, Tierra del Fuego, in 1940, and another immature individual was collected by the authors in August 1961 at El Bolsón, Río Negro. Ever since the first specimens were collected, many scientists and naturalists from all over the world have focused their attention on these falcons, which were examined by the eminent ornithologists Drs. Erwin Stresemann and Dean Amadon when the last individual was collected in the south west of Río Negro. They concluded it was a new species, named Falco kreyenborgi kleinschmidt. Later, several specialist expeditions from Europe and Canada travelled through the south of Chile and Argentina seeking this species without being able to spot a single individual of these remarkable falcons.
At last, in 1979, David A. Ellis and Richard L. Glinski, American naturalists, for the first time took pictures of this Falcon in the wild. Later in the same year another American naturalist, Mr. Terry Roundy, was able to film an individual in the central Patagonian region. The following year, the same naturalist, together with two other Americans, upon observation of a nest of the Peregrine Falcon with four fledglings, discovered that three of them had the normal juvenile plumage and the other was in the light phase. Finally, in 1981, David H. Ellis and Clifford Handerson made a new trip to study this species and found two nests with chicks corresponding to the Patagonian Falcon (Falco kreyenborgi). They were also able to verify the presence of adult mixed couples, specifically light-phased males with dark-phased females and vice-versa. All these studies and discoveries led the specialists to the conclusion that the Patagonian Falcon (Falco kreyenborgi) is in fact a light phase of the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus cassini) and therefore belongs to this species. Probably, this variation in plumage is due to an adaptation to the surroundings, typical of the Patagonian regions of semidesert plateau. Nevertheless, this is a rare phenomenon considering that of the 16 subspecies of the Peregrine Falcon known worldwide, only the one that occurs in Patagonia has individuals whose phase is so different from the typical phase. Apart from the young specimen collected in 1961, the authors have observed other individuals in this phase, in several places and on different occasions, as follows: in May 1971 a young individual was sighted at El Hoyo de Epuyén. It remained for several days in the area. In 1973 near Punta Tombo, in the coastal region of Chubut, a dead specimen was found but regrettably only a few parts were preserved. Judging by the head, tail, and a few back feathers it was concluded it was an adult. On January 3, 1977, an adult pair with a fledgling was spotted near Paso de Indios, in central Chubut. More recently, in June 1994, the authors sighted an adult near Epuyén and another one in Cholila, both northwest of Chubut. Range: the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus cassini) is found throughout Patagonia; in winter some populations migrate northwards. This race also occurs in Chile; in summer the races Falco peregrinus anatum and Falco peregrinus tundrius arrive from the United States.
Illustrated Handbook of the Birds of Patagonia
Kindless: Kovacs Family
 
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Photographs: Mariano Diez Peña


Birding Patagonia • Birdwatcing in Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina and Chile.
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Photographs on the website: Mariano Diez Peña