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Hi Birders,
Anthony Katon, after witnessing a Peregrine with
prey being mobbed by other birds, asked if other people have had that experience
too! The answer is yes, I suspect that many of us have seen Peregrines stooping
at prey (death from the air!) and sometimes being successful in catching their
prey. A quick glance though HANZAB and I counted
135 species of bird in Australia recorded as being prey of Peregrine Falcons.
There are probably more!
Some interesting prey items that I have encounted
include a Bar-tailed Godwit taken by a Peregrine at Mow Rock near Binnaway NSW,
a long way from any wetland; A Peregrine down at Nadgee Nature Reserve (NSW far
south coast) feeding on a freshly dead Little Pied Cormorant, presumable taken
as it flew across the sandbar connecting Little River Lagoon from the sea; on
Bird Island Nature Reserve off Norah Head on the NSW Central Coast, White-faced
Storm-Petrels, Wedge-tailed and Short-tailed Shearwaters appear to be the daily
fare in summer, Prions and Fluttering Shearwaters in winter; and no matter where
the eyrie is situated one invariably finds a racing pigeon ring below the
nest!
Alan Morris
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