I couldn't agree with you more Judith - I was about to make the same two points
last night on here, but you beat me to it...
and applying adjectives such as common, uncommon, sparse etc. to apex predatory
bird species such as the Peregrine Falcon, is always going to be difficult and
subjective when describing their abundance &/or likelihood of being encountered.
by virtue of being at the top of the food chain, and because in Australia adult
pairs form large breeding teritories, in my opinion, I think it's fair to
describe our Peregrine as 'moderately common' .
personally, I really like the way the new CSIRO 'Aust Bird Guide' has chosen
the pie chart approach for describing each species' abundance &/or likelihood
of being encountered - and, if you refer to the Peregrine in this guide, you
will note that it gets a '50/50 chance' - which I think is absolutely spot on
!!
cheers for now,
martin cachard
solar whisper wildlife cruises,
daintree river, FNQ
& trinity beach, cairns, FNQ
________________________________
From: Birding-Aus <> on behalf of Judith L-A
<>
Sent: Tuesday, 20 February 2018 5:09 PM
To:
Subject: PS: why is it so?
Thinking about all your replies, two notions occur to me –
First, that it’s likely characteristic of this literary form (i.e. the
journal-style natural history) that it telescopes time, so that sightings of
such a “glamour” species seem populous within the book’s geography due to the
author’s thrilled recording of every peregrine’s passage, within compressed
time, & at disproportionate coverage compared to all other species recorded.
Secondly, the northern-hemisphere peregrines are migratory (in contrast to the
sedentary habits of Australian breeding adults [Debus 2001]) – so at any one
location surely here we will rarely see more than the same pair, & where the
habitat is unsuitable are unlikely ever to see the species. Britishers, though,
in the Ansell DEEP COUNTRY example, will see the species coming & going, as
well as those seasonally staying.
?
Judith
SEQ 500m
>
>
> Having just finished reading DEEP COUNTRY by Neil Ansell (five years in the
> Welsh hills, alone in a remote world), which is an account of the birds'
> lives there too, I've recalled how many British natural histories like this
> are filled with raptors. Falcons particularly seem to course the British
> skies as populously as swallows. When you think how rare & fortunate it is to
> see a Peregrine streak by in Australia — Is it really like that in Britain?
> ... & if so, why are the peregrine falcons so sparse here?
>
> Judith
> SEQ 500m
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