A population study of tropical Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus ernesti) in West Malaysia
The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is the most widely distributed bird species in the world, but very little is known about its tropical populations, where even very basic information (e.g. about population density) is mostly lacking. In January 2017, 2018 and 2019, we conducted three intensive...
| Published in: | Ornis Hungarica |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://real.mtak.hu/206729/ https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2020-0002 |
| Summary: | The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is the most widely distributed bird species in the world, but very little is known about its tropical populations, where even very basic information (e.g. about population density) is mostly lacking. In January 2017, 2018 and 2019, we conducted three intensive surveys amounting to 27 days and 5,400 km driven by car in West Malaysia at latitudes between 3 and 7 °N, where the ernesti subspecies was confirmed to be a resident breeder only as recently as 1996. Here, we summarize our findings and combine them in a synthesis that includes all published and unpublished records of nesting peregrines that we could obtain in that area. In particular, we draw on the foundational work conducted by our late colleague Laurent Molard in 2003–2005. We give information about breeding habitats, local density, behavior and breeding phenology. We also describe and discuss our use of call playback during the surveys. Much more extensive reports for each survey, with plenty of photographs of all sites visited, are available upon request from the authors. |
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