Hunting activity by urban Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) during autumn and winter in south-west Norway

Abstract

In 2015/16 a pair of Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus frequented a 66 m high office building in a small town in south-west Norway. Using IR-flash cameras 61 days in the autumn and winter, day and night, the time of landings on the balcony cornices were recorded exactly. In total 93 hunting sorties were recorded, a majority of which took place around dawn and dusk. No less than 17 % of the hunts occurred in the dark, between dusk and dawn. In autumn, waders and thrushes made up a substantial part of their diet. During winter many corvids rest in a park near the building, and at that time the Peregrines mostly fed on Jackdaws Corvus monedula, killed by the female in coordinated hunting. Often the male landed on the cornice without prey, to eat leftovers. Artificial light probably enabled the falcons to hunt at night.