Bird of prey: Dover gets unusual visit from feathered predator (NH)

[Donna]

DOVER — A bird of a different feather swooped by the city this week.

A peregrine falcon — the fastest creature on the planet — was spotted downtown in the Orchard Street parking lot Monday.

The bird is considered endangered in New Hampshire and Maine and typically found in the northern, forested parts of the states. Sightings in cities are rare.

Animal Control Officer Kathy Ladisheff responded to a report of a large falcon and snapped a remarkable photo of an adult peregrine with a dead sea gull in its grasp.

"I was really surprised," said Ladisheff, who has never encountered the bird before.

The peregrine is a fearsome hunter. It's distinguished by a black-tipped, snub-nosed beak and black, tear-shaped stripes on its cheeks.

The peregrine feeds almost exclusively on other birds, dive-bombing them from above at speeds over 200 mph. It uses a unique, deadly tomial tooth on its beak to incapacitate its prey.

Ladisheff said after the peregrine devoured its meal on a pile of pine needles, it flew up to a street light for about 20 minutes before taking off.

The bird may have been in the midst of migrating from Canada to South America, said Karen McElmurry, director of the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, Maine.

A peregrine nest was spotted several years ago in an old warehouse at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The birds have been spotted in other urban areas such as New York City and Chicago with tall buildings. The birds like to nest in high, protected ledges.

McElmurry said an injured juvenile peregrine from New Castle was brought into the Center for Wildlife a few years ago. It was nursed to health and released. The center has an in-house female peregrine, Freyja, that's used for educational purposes.

The bird lives everywhere except Antarctica. Its numbers were decimated after World War II with the introduction of the pesticide DDT. It was taken off the federal endangered species list in 1999, but the peregrine is still considered endangered in some states where its numbers remain low. Its population is about 3,300 in the United States and Canada.

McElmurry said she wasn't surprised the peregrine spotted in Dover took down a sea gull.

"They are designed to take down prey very efficiently," she said. "They're at the top of the food chain."

 Caption: A peregrine falcon — the fastest creature on the planet — was spotted downtown in the Orchard Street parking lot in Dover on Monday.

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