Food transfer and feeding time for three Peregrine Falcon chicks

For a few years now there has been a Peregrine Falcon nest in the spring at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. We’ve been going over for about four or five years now. We’ve seen them bring in a meal but it’s always been hard to tell what it is. And this is the first time I’ve so clearly seen the transfer for the mother to bring in the food, this time clearly a Bonaparte’s Gull. We first noticed the pair hanging in the air over a cliff face just like kites on a string, then one by one they left to return in five to ten minutes and were loudly calling as they performed this meal transfer. There was what looked like one attempt before the actual transfer, then the female ‘regrouped’ and came up again. Not until she firmly had it did he release but that was in mere seconds.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology