Robbing Ibis Nests as a Foraging Strategy of Peregrine Falcons in Patagonia, Argentina

ELLIS, DAVID H.; SAGGESE, MIGUEL D.; NELSON, R. WAYNE; QUAGLIA, AGUSTIN I.E.

JOURNAL OF RAPTOR RESEARCH

RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC

Lugar: Lawrence, Kansas; Año: 2019 vol. 53 p. 438 - 440

0892-1016

The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus; hereafter, peregrine or falcon) is one of the most intensively studied birds in the world and is primarily an aerial hunter of avian prey (Cade 1982). However, individual peregrines or populations occasionally exhibit unusual foraging behaviors or capture unusual prey items. For example, one juvenile peregrine spent the winter hunting earthworms (Lumbricius terestris; Baker 1967). One pair preyed almost exclusively (99% of prey remains in nest) on domestic chicken poults (Gallus gallus; Razafimanjato et al. 2007). One population seemingly captured more insects than birds (Ellis et al. 2007; see also Sumner and Davis 2008), and another population fed regularly on carrion (29% of diet; Varland et al. 2018). Here, we report peregrines in southern Patagonia searching nesting colonies of Black-faced Ibises (Theristicus melanopis, hereafter ibis) and capturing nestlings.