I went out to Red Rocks around 4:00 pm to see if the Peregrine Falcons have come back. Low and behold to my surprise there was a Peregrine perched behind the amphitheater, 10 feet from where last year's Eyrie was. After watching for a few minutes the Peregrine flew off and landed on top of the other Peregrine, previously unseen by me, and proceeded to copulate. The male then flew off and attacked an adult Cooper's Hawk who happened to be passing through at a high altitude. After the attack, the make disappeared. The female proceeded to perch and preen for the next hour and a half. In that time, I thought there might be a chance he might return with a kill for the female. Sure enough he returned with a small bird and gave it to the female, who flew off and ate it on the opposite ledge. After she had finished eating, the pair copulated a second time. I left as it got dark.
I made some observations that will allow the male and female to be distinguished from one another. The male can be told apart from the female by looking at the mustache and the yellow eye lining. The male's dark mustache connects to the nape while the female has a distinct white/peach patch between the mustache and nape. Also, the male's eye lining is a heavy yellow, while the female's eye lining is more white and grey than yellow. I will probably be out there tomorrow morning (0900), as I had so much fun watching these birds and their antics. Nathan Berry, Denver, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
