Diet of Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus in the urban environment of Maribor (NE Slovenia)

Abstract The article presents dietary habits of the Peregrine Falcon in the urban environment of Maribor. The diet was studied with an analysis of prey remnants at the nesting site. In October 2015, prey remnants were collected after the nesting in and around the nest built on top of the grain stora...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acrocephalus
Main Authors: Janžekovič, Franc, Bračko, Franc, Tomažič, Aleš, Klenovšek, Tina, Mencinger, Nastja
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/acro-2018-0004
http://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/acro/39/176-177/article-p39.xml
https://www.sciendo.com/pdf/10.1515/acro-2018-0004
Description
Summary:Abstract The article presents dietary habits of the Peregrine Falcon in the urban environment of Maribor. The diet was studied with an analysis of prey remnants at the nesting site. In October 2015, prey remnants were collected after the nesting in and around the nest built on top of the grain storage silo. Prey remnants, mostly bones and feathers, were sorted into body parts: skull with the beak, wings, and legs. Wings were the most numerous remnants with 41.7%, followed by legs and skulls with 28.1% each. In total, 96 units of prey were found, belonging to five different species of birds. The number of specimens and biomass was dominated by Feral Pigeons Columba livia domestica with 64.6% in number and 89.5% in prey biomass. The second most frequent prey of falcons were Starlings Sturnus vulgaris .