SWIFT-HUNTING BEHAVIOR OF THE PEREGRINE FALCON IN ARIZONA

Abstract

Among the solo and cooperative attacks by Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) on White-throated Swifts (Aeronautes saxitalis), the most spectacular are long series of declining stoops (sometimes involving elevational changes of up to 1 km). These repeated stoops sometimes result in falcons attempting to strike prey while climbing as well as when diving. An unspectacular technique involves swooping up, stalling, and grasping at swifts coming and going from a cleft in a cliff wall.