For the fifth year in a row a peregrine falcon has taken up winter residence in uptown Charlotte.
This bird shows a marked preference for the Hilton hotel, spending several hours each day, as it has in past years, perched on one of the large letters making up the word "Hilton" high over Third Street.
I was lucky enough to find it loafing on the dot over the "i" Oct. 14.
Where this bird spends the warmer months is a mystery, but clearly she has developed an affinity for Charlotte as a wintering site. Everything a peregrine falcon could want is right there - tall buildings that simulate high cliffs, wide open sky above those buildings, and rock pigeons.
I've never see her actually catch prey, but I've seen the pigeon flock uptown in panicky flight often enough to believe she is targeting them. Some folks are amazed that this bird returns to the same location year after year, but actually it is quite common for many birds to do so.
Bird banders have plenty of data to show that birds return to the same breeding and wintering grounds each year. A flock of white-throated sparrows that spends the winter in your backyard likely contains some individuals from previous years. The Eastern phoebe or barn swallow that nests under your porch or deck each year is very likely to be the same individual, or an immediate descendant, that was there last year.
Several Rufous hummingbirds have returned to winter feeders in Charlotte for up to four years in a row, confirmed by banding data. Once birds find a site that satisfies their basic needs of food, water and cover they will continue to take advantage of the situation. There is also evidence that some migratory birds repeat their migration routes each year, passing through the same backyards and woodlots as they wing their way from the northern to southern United States and even beyond.
Peregrine falcons will often return to the same place each winter.
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