Tweeters,

Susan McDougall writes:

>The falcons chased the gull in
>sequence, first one swooping, and then the other....
>Is this type of cooperative hunting common with Peregrines? The method
>was effective, if unplanned (in a human sense).

Others know better how typical it is, but I can add an anecdote to yours. I
picked up this story in June 1997 from a caretaker for an industrial
property under the Oregon end of the Lewis and Clark Bridge. He watched
while one peregrine zoomed through the bridge structure, scattering a
hundred pigeons into the air from their perches; the second peregrine,
apparently the mate, was high above this action and came bombing down at
incredible speed onto one of the panicked pigeons--POW! Instant meal. I'd
call that "cooperative hunting."

Darrel Whipple
Rainier, Oregon
dwhipple at columbia-center.org