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.

How to get an awesome nest record of a Peregrine!

Ed Drewitt writes:

"Since the first web camera was used on a Peregrine nest in Brighton back in the late 1990s, our knowledge of what goes on in the lives of Peregrines has come on leaps and bounds. Even back then the grainy, low resolution pictures that updated every minute (if you were lucky) gave us insights in to the lives of these then rare birds. Over time improved technology, infrared light, high definition imaging and faster broadband connections now means we can watch peregrines 24-hours and all year round. As a result we can gather information about what makes peregrines tick that even committed Peregrines researchers fifty years ago could never have achieved by watching nesting rural peregrines (under a licence) from afar."

Chichester Peregrine chicks - Graham Roberts

"Web cameras allow us to hear baby peregrines cheeping to their parents days before they hatch and discover what prey is being brought directly to the nest. We can record accurate dates of when eggs are laid and when they hatch. And usefully, from a ringing perspective, it allows us to observe who is who at the nest site. Cameras help us read ring numbers of Peregrines and follow individuals. More recently interlopers have been observed visiting urban Peregrine nests, identified by their plumage, gender or colour rings."

Peregrine - Fellowes

"At some nests, young birds from the previous breeding season have been observed visiting their parents and nesting site, some staying throughout the nesting season helping to incubate eggs and feed chicks; a form of cooperative breeding. This behaviour is likely to increase as the urban peregrine population increases further - it pays for the younger birds, often males, to stay with their parents for an extra year to develop their life skills and avoid getting beaten up by other Peregrines if they wander further afield. Web cameras are also useful for: detecting new breeding birds that have appeared within a pair; extra-pair copulations whereby a male or female Peregrine sneaks off to mate with a different bird elsewhere and increase their gene pool; detecting inbreeding and much more."

Sussex webcam - Graham Roberts

Ed - There are several nests that can be viewed online and some have just started laying over the last couple of days. A selection of some active ones are below:

Norwich Cathedral Peregrine
Sheffield Peregrine
Brighton Peregrine
Nottingham Trent University Peregrine
Bath Peregrine

An interesting behaviour that David Morrison reported to us recently regarded a brood from last year that fledged and one of the chicks joined another nearby Peregrine nest and was accepted by the parents. This chick fledged with it's new siblings several months later.

For more information on urban Peregrines click here for a review of Ed Drewitt's book.

The Peregrine Project in Aylesbury

Following the theme in our previous post we'd like to share some good news from Buckinghamshire. 


Dave Short writes:
In mid-2007 we noticed that a young pair of Peregrine had taken up residence in the middle of town, 200ft up on a Bucks County Council office building. Bill Robson and myself, who at the time were volunteering for Aylesbury Vale District Council Barn Owl Project, approached Bucks council about placing a nesting platform on the building. The two councils worked together and a platform was duly erected in spring 2008, although sadly no birds bred that year.


In both 2009 & 2010 two birds were seen together, but no evidence of breeding was seen and the platform remained vacant. Then, in 2011 things began to look more promising. In late spring, two Peregrines were seen copulating and an egg was laid on the platform, though sadly it didn't hatch. 


With high hopes for 2012, we decided to put two web cameras on and around the platform in order to get closer to the action, and an anonymous donor kindly paid for their purchase and installation. Sure enough, the Peregrines bred this spring, and we now have two chicks age 3 days and 2 days--the first confirmed Peregrine breeding record for Buckinghamshire! If all goes well, we will be colour ringing the chicks in due course.




To keep up to date with what's going on in the the first ever Aylesbury Peregrine nest all you need to do is follow the Aylesbury Vale Channel on You Tube here.
Here is their latest video from 2 days ago. Enjoy.


To read more stories about Peregrines in the Demog Blog go here!