While at our Longboat Key condo yesterday, I looked out just in time to see a peregrine falcon fly across Sarasota Bay. Once endangered by the use of DDT, this large falcon has made a steady comeback and is now an uncommon resident or migrant in most regions of the U.S.; they are, in fact, found across the globe, inhabiting all continents except Antarctica.
Peregrine falcons nest primarily on cliffs across Alaska and Canada and southward along the coast of the Pacific Northwest and through the mountain chains of North America; in recent decades, they have also established nests on skyscrapers and bridges in urban centers of the Midwest and Northeast. Come fall, they follow migrant flocks of waterfowl and shorebirds on which they feed; most winter along the Southeast and Gulf Coasts or along the Pacific Coast, from Canada to Mexico.
Feasting primarily on birds, from geese to shorebirds and songbirds in size, these powerful raptors may hunt from a high perch or soar overhead, stooping to knock their prey to the ground; at other times, they swoop into flocks of pigeons, waterfowl or shorebirds at high speed, picking off their victim. While no longer as rare as they once were, it is always a pleasure to encounter these handsome hunters.
Peregrine falcons nest primarily on cliffs across Alaska and Canada and southward along the coast of the Pacific Northwest and through the mountain chains of North America; in recent decades, they have also established nests on skyscrapers and bridges in urban centers of the Midwest and Northeast. Come fall, they follow migrant flocks of waterfowl and shorebirds on which they feed; most winter along the Southeast and Gulf Coasts or along the Pacific Coast, from Canada to Mexico.
Feasting primarily on birds, from geese to shorebirds and songbirds in size, these powerful raptors may hunt from a high perch or soar overhead, stooping to knock their prey to the ground; at other times, they swoop into flocks of pigeons, waterfowl or shorebirds at high speed, picking off their victim. While no longer as rare as they once were, it is always a pleasure to encounter these handsome hunters.
