Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus
STANFORD LOCATIONS:

Occasionally seen perched on Hoover Tower. Was seen there March 2011, and was last reported February 2013. In December 2016, one was reported near the Community Farm (between Oak Road and Sand Hill Road, near Stock Farm Road), where it was mobbed along with a Red-tailed Hawk by American Crows and Common Ravens.
Similar Species: Prairie Falcon
  
Nest
Location
Nest
Type
Eggs
Mating System
Dev.
Parental Care
Primary &
2ndary Diet
Foraging
Strategy
F -M
I: 29-32 DAYS
SEMIALTRICIAL 2
TREE
 50 feet - 200 feet +
F
3-4
(2-6)
MONOG
F: 35-42 DAYS
MF
BREEDING: Open habitats from tundra, savanna, and seacoasts to high mountains; also open forest, tall buildings. 1 brood.
DISPLAYS: Aerial displays, courtship feeding, all with calls.
NEST: Well-rounded scrape in accumulated debris on ledge, occ lined with grass. Rarely uses old tree nest or cavity. Cliff sites used traditionally for many years.
EGGS: White/pinkish-cream, occ marked with brown/red. 2.1" (53 mm).
DIET: Stoops or flies fast and low after wide variety of birds, esp doves and pigeons, also shorebirds, waterfowl, and passerines.
CONSERVATION: Winters s through C.A. and West Indies to Tierra del Fuego. Endangered Species (arctic sub-species Threatened); de-listed in 1999; serious decline since 1940s result of eggshell thinning from pesticides and PCB poisoning. Now being reintroduced to parts of former range.
NOTES: Worldwide range more extensive than any other bird. Initially male does most of hunting, female broods and feeds chicks. Pairs roost together, hunt cooperatively. As in other falcons, female larger than male: eats first, dives first when hunting in pairs, takes larger prey.
ESSAYS: Conservation; Birds and the Law; How Fast? Raptor Hunting; Size and Sex; Courtship Feeding.
REFERENCES: Cade, 1982; Cade et al., 1971; Craig, 1986; Cramp and Simmons, 1980; Ratcliffe, 1980; Temple, 1978.

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Except for Stanford Locations, the material in this species treatment is taken, with permission, from The Birder's Handbook (Paul Ehrlich, David Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye, Simon & Schuster, NY. 1988).