Moroccan farewell to a long-distance Peregrine

Ed Drewitt and Luke Sutton write:

For the past 21 years, Ed Drewitt has been studying urban-dwelling Peregrines around the Bristol area, in particular what they eat. His prey studies have revealed that not only do urban Peregrines eat a huge range of species in Britain (over 100) they also hunt at night catching nocturnally migrating birds such as Woodcock, Snipe, Teal, Moorhen and even Corncrake and Spotted Crake. During this period Peregrines have extended their range across southern England and can now be found nesting in most cities and large towns in this region.

Juvenile Peregrines blue RX and RY, RZ. Photo taken by Robin Morrison.

Since 2007, Ed alongside Luke Sutton, Hamish Smith, Seb Loram and Jason Fathers have been fitting blue colour rings to Peregrines across the west of the country from Bristol to Devon, ringing over 200 Peregrine chicks. They have received information on 55 of these birds, some of which were dead, others alive and well. Over this time the team have also submitted over 160 nest records for Peregrines, tracking both the highs and lows of their breeding attempts.


Peregrine blue RY being ringed. Photo taken by Robin Morrison.

One bird AA, the first the team ringed, is still the breeding male in Bath where he hatched and is now over 12 years old. Most recoveries (47 in total) are what we would expect, with females travelling further than males, and only 7% travelling further than 200 kilometres. It was therefore to the team’s surprise that blue RY, ringed on the 30 May 2019 in Taunton, Somerset, was found dead in early November in Tiznit, Morocco (2,435km over 155 days). He was hit by a vehicle. This is the first British-ringed Peregrine to make it to mainland Africa, beaten only by one that made it slightly further south to the Canary Island of Lanzorote.


Peregrine blue RY taking to the skies. Photo taken by Robin Morrison.

While Peregrines from northern Europe, such as Finnish Lapland, sometimes make it to northern Africa, this remarkable recovery illustrates the species' ability to travel long distances, which is does regularly from North America to Central and South America, and northern Russia to the Middle East. However, British-hatched Peregrines generally stay within the Britain or hop modest distances over to Belgium, France or the Netherlands.