Subject: [Tweeters] Peregrine feeding post fledging ?
Date: Jun 7 17:35:23 2016
From: Rob Sandelin - robsan668 at gmail.com


A few years ago when I had a younger mans body I was backpacking out on the
coast south of Sand Point. I had to lay over a couple of hours for the tide
so I lay out in the sun. Above me I heard the sound of a whining Juv
Peregrine and sure enough way above me were two falcons circling. One was
well above the other which was doing the whining. The upper one looked odd
so I got out my bins and just as I focused on the circling bird it dropped
something about the size of a robin. The bird below, the juv., swiped at the
falling object but did not catch it, it just bumped it. The falcon then
headed straight down, pumping its wings for extra speed.

Just as the falling object got to about the tree top level the young falcon
caught up to it, grabbed it in its talons and then fully spread its tail and
wings to pull out of the dive. It just managed to do this before it hit the
water and as the bird pumped its wings and headed to the trees to eat its
prize the youngster gave a loud call which I can only describe as
triumphant.

Rob Sandelin
Laying around on beaches in wild places





-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Barbara
Deihl
Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 2:48 PM
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Cc: Martin Muller <martinmuller at msn.com>; Ed Deal <dealgen at aol.com>; Bud
Anderson <falconresearch at gmail.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Peregrine feeding post fledging ?

I am aware that when our "urban/suburban" Merlin fledglings leave the nest,
that at least one of the parents still drops off prey for a few days, and
monitors whether or not the juvies are successfully feeding (the kids often
drop prey to the ground and it takes awhile for them to better master the
pass-offs and drop-offs, much less to get to the next step of capturing
their own prey). I also think that the parent(s) may follow the kids around
for awhile and, upon finding that one or 2 are seriously having trouble
getting food, they will again bring them prey on a tree away from the
nestsite. I'm wondering if the downtown Peregriine fledglings get any
similar treatment, or if, once they fly, they are totally on their own for
food procurement. And do other falcons (eg. kestrels, Prairie Falcons,
Gyrfalcons), have similar ways to Merlins, or do they all vary a bit? If any
of you Tweets (including Kim McCormick and Ben Vang-Johnson), can offer some
info or observations on any of the falcons post-fledging, I'm sure that many
of us Tweets would appreciate your sharings.

Thanks...

Barb Deihl
Matthews Beach Neighborhood - NE Seattle
barbdeihl at comcast.net_______________________________________________
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