eWestern Birds
The Quarterly Journal of Western Field Ornithologists
Swift-Hunting Behavior of the Peregrine Falcon in Arizona
David H. Ellis
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.
Download—Swift-Hunting Behavior of the Peregrine Falcon in Arizona