Bird Hunters Part 1

There are a few birds which make a living out of hunting other birds. This is distressing to us lovers of birds but on the other hand it is amazing the way they do it. I wish to focus on several groups of bird hunters according to the strategy by which they hunt.

Aerial Strikers

Some birds have incredible flying skills, combining speed and manoeuvrability to grab their bird prey in midair.

Preeminent among the aerial strikers is the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). They usually nest on rocky ledges or cliffs. A pair nests on the cliffs at Strath Creek Falls where a large white stain on the cliffs reveals the nesting area. Famously, a pair has nested for many years on a skyscraper in Collins St, Melbourne where a camera streams the activity within the nest.

Peregrines are famous for being the fastest -flying bird in the world, reaching up to 300kmh. Every bird is afraid of them and I have seen a flock of galahs quickly head for the ground to avoid being tackled by a passing Peregrine. Sometimes they fly high and drop on a flying bird but I have also once witnessed a peregrine chase a duck (and ducks seem to fly very fast), effortlessly overtake it and passing underneath, swivel and strike its neck with extended talons. The duck tumbled to the water below and every bird in the vicinity shrieked and quacked and chirped angrily as the falcon swooped several times to finish the kill and obtain its meal. The photo is from Birdlife Australia.

The Australian Hobby (Falco longipennis) is a peregrine mini-me. It looks like a peregrine but smaller and more tawny-coloured; and it hunts like a peregrine but, being smaller, is even more aerobatic and skilful. A friend described watching one chasing a bat at dusk, and bats are incredible flyers (it escaped). The only successful strike I have witnessed was a hobby in Melbourne that picked out a starling from an airborne flock. They appear in our district usually dashing through the air, so hard to photograph unless one catches them perched.

Almost any raptor will take a bird at times but the falcons with their pointed wings and swift flight are the preeminent aerialists. You have to admire them – but not if you’re a bird taking a pleasant Sunday afternoon flight!