8/6/2023 0 Comments Falcon bird of preyPeregrine falcons might not mate for life in the conventional sense, but birds will return to successful nest sites year after year and consequently form the same pairs. Life on the ledge: what you might see on a webcam Late spring to early summer is the best time of year to tune into a webcam, when you can follow the birds through their breeding season, watch them raise chicks and see those chicks leave the nest. The country's first urban peregrine nesting spot at Salisbury Cathedral is still in use and available to watch online, as are high-rise nests in Wakefield, Brighton, Sheffield, Leamington Spa, Woking and many other towns and cities around the country (a list of peregrine webcams is provided at the end of this article). Norwich and Bath cathedrals both have peregrine webcams too thanks to the Hawk and Owl Trust's peregrine project, while in Chester the public are encouraged to join a Peregrine Watch every June to help monitor the pair that nest on the historic lead shot tower. At first, a camera was used just for security monitoring, but in 2012 the footage was livestreamed online. One of the best-established peregrine webcams is installed at Nottingham Trent University's Newton building, where staff first collaborated with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust to secure the nest of a pair of peregrine falcons 20 years ago. 'It provides an insight into their behaviour that was unknown until relatively recently.' They hunt migrating birds such as woodcock, moorhens and teal during the cover of darkness, helped by street lamps which light up their prey. He says, 'Some of my favourite memories are via web cameras, especially watching peregrines bringing in prey at night. Ed, who has studied the diet of urban peregrines in depth, lists these virtual views in his top encounters with the birds. While peregrine falcons sensibly nest out of sight at the top of buildings, several of their nests can be secretly watched via webcams. Each has a bulky, muscular body with strong, pointed wings and a relatively short tail.' 'Rock doves and peregrines have evolved alongside each other,' explains Hein van Grouw, Senior Curator of the Museum's Bird group. They're the same birds, just with different names depending on where they live. Peregrine falcons share their traditional craggy homes with rock doves ( Columba livia), familiar to most of us as the feral pigeons so common in our towns and cities. Where there's plenty of a particular type of prey, predators will become specialists in hunting it. Oblivious of their intended human purposes, the birds simply sought out structures that balanced shelter and access to a good supply of food. You might not see much similarity between cliff ledges and bridges, pylons or power stations - all locations where the birds of prey choose to nest - but as the peregrine falcon population increased, so did competition for traditional nest sites. 'The earliest record of a peregrine using a building goes back to 1864/65 at Salisbury Cathedral, while in London peregrines used St Paul's Cathedral as early as 1921.' 'Peregrines nest on over 200 urban or manmade locations across the country today,' says Ed. Food supply is one factor that attracts the predators to the lowlands, while in the uplands there is continued persecution by humans, particularly around grouse moors. The survey found that peregrine falcons were faring much better in urban and coastal situations than in the hills. 'Peregrines began moving into our cities during the 1990s after their populations recovered from decades of decline from persecution and the effects of pesticides in the countryside,' explains naturalist and author Ed Drewitt, who is currently researching peregrine falcons for a PhD at the University of Bristol.Ī total of 1,769 breeding pairs were estimated across the UK by the British Trust for Ornithology's (BTO) peregrine survey in 2014 (see the PDF). Traditionally, the birds kept away from humans, but they've been getting closer in the last few decades. Peregrine falcons ( Falco peregrinus) are famously capable of reaching speeds of around 320 kilometres per hour as they dive or 'stoop' to catch their prey.
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