Hi Bev,
The larger falcon was more likely a "she" as female falcons are typically
considerably larger than their male counterparts. As for "engaging lightly"
this doesn't suggest contact between two different species. In my experience,
contact and engagement between unmated/unrelated falcons tends to involve an
intense out of nowhere strafing that doesn't last long before one bird clears
the area.
I can't remember who it was, perhaps Dick Musser, but someone very familiar
with falcon behavior suggested that female falcons soften wait for males to
take prey then steal it.
My guess is that the color and moustacial differences that you saw may have
been age-related.
Dave Irons
Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 31, 2016, at 10:38 AM, Beverly Hallberg <mapsout@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:POST: Send your post to obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi all,
Yesterday I saw a large flock of Barn Swallows feeding and twittering away
over a pond at the end of the spit. I'm estimating around 18 but could have
more or less by a couple. That seems like a very high number - eBird thought
so too.
The other day I also saw two falcons engaging each other with their talons
several times over the river side viewed from the boat launch. There were a
lot of shorebirds (Least and SP Plovers) on the beach just south of the
launch which were their target although I didn't see one get taken. One was
quite a bit larger and seemed to have a lighter back than I would expect - I
also couldn't see the typical mustachial stripe on his face through my scope
when he was perched. I'm guessing that I saw two Peregrin Falcons doing a
mating ritual although I couldn't see food being passed between them. Is
this rather early for this behavior or right on time? The other possibility
is that I was seeing an adult gray morph Gyrfalcon engaging lightly with a
Peregrin Falcon defending his turf. Any opinions?
I continue to see 18-19 Snowy Plovers in the park.
Good birding, Beverly
