Paul:

More thoughts on the falcon. I'm convinced our bird was NOT a Prairie
(underwing, facial pattern, upperparts coloration too dark brown, etc.) and
our bird did not have the yellow legs you mentioned. As I wrote, it would
seem Cindy's bird was not the same as ours, so hers could have been Prairie,
although she did not see the bird in flight.

Just wondering: what is your source on tundrius being so rare in wWA? I
claim no expertise here and haven't seen a discussion of the relative
abundance of the Peregrine ssp., though pealei of course seems most common.
Sibley's illustration of the 1st year tundrius was a dead match for our bird
(particularly capturing the peculiar light/cream-colored head pattern), and
the National Geo picture of anatum (I've been told) is wrong, if Nat'l Geo
can be considered reliable on anatum.

Scott Atkinson

>From: "Paul DeBruyn" <paulmdb at hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: paulmdb at hotmail.com
>To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
>Subject: Sibley's tundra peregrine
>Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 11:07:52 -0800
>
>I wouldn't be in a hurry to call a peregrine "tundrias" based on the
>drawings in Sibley's book. For one thing anatum is not even shown and many
>of our local (and northern migrant) anatums are quite pale. Tundra
>peregrines generally winter south of the U.S. although there are a few
>records for B.C. and Washington in winter based on banded birds of known
>natal origin. Sibley also shows juvenile peregrines with yellow feet which
>is unusual. Most young peregrines have bluish grey soft parts (cere,
>orbital and feet). A mid sized brown falcon with yellow feet would more
>likely be an adult prairie.
>I've noticed a remarkable increase in the number reports of tundrias since
>the release of Sibley's book. Sub species of raptors often can't be
>distinguished in the field.
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