Records of Orange-breasted Falcons in urban and suburban areas of Northwestern Argentina

GRANDE, J. M.; STRELKOV, C.; LÓPEZ, F. G.

JOURNAL OF RAPTOR RESEARCH

RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC

Lugar: Lawrence, Kansas; Año: 2018

0892-1016

Birds of prey were persecuted and thus scarce or absent from urban environments.However, in recent decades, thanks to a reduction in persecution, a high availability of food and breeding sites, and raptor habituation to humans, several raptor species have nowadays well established urban populations. Here we report records of Orangebreasted Falcons (Falco deiroleucus), a rare and poorly known neotropical falcon, using urban and sub-urban areas in northwestern Argentina, in the southern limit of its distribution.We provide records within a medium size city and a small town. Most records were from winter what suggest a possible altitudinal movement of falcons from mountain cloud forest to lowland forest and cities, maybe in response to weatherand altitudinal movements of many of their prey as well as to deforestation in lowland piedmont forests. The use of heavily humanized landscapes, at least seasonally, suggests that the species may be more resilient to human perturbation than previously thought. Further studies are needed to clarify which factors induce Orange-breasted Falcons to use urban environments as well as the possible costs and benefits this behavior may have for the species.