Peregrine Falcon

Another Peregrine Falcon from the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge—4 December 2020, perhaps the same individual I recently wrote about in my blog. Peregrines breed widely across the Northern Hemisphere of the world. They winter all the way from northern latitudes, like from southern Alaska and northern Europe south to the tips of South America, Africa, India, and Australia. Breeding can also occur in the winter range. Recent research by Beingolea and Arcilla in the Journal of Raptor Research (2020) showed that eight Peregrine Falcons wintering in Peru did not hatch at a single region of North America. These birds were banded in Alaska, northern Canada, Minnesota and Nebraska. Thirteen additional migrating falcons banded during migration along the East Coast of the United States and Texas were recaptured in Peru. An Alaskan bird traveled 6630 miles. The authors conclude that Peregrine Falcons wintering in Peru “originate from a widespread geographic breeding range, corroborating other research suggesting that Nearctic peregrine migration is highly dispersive.”