Falcon takes White-Faced Ibis (WARNING) MA

[Donna]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyqijh2sMao# I didn't watch but I know lots can handle this better than me. Contains some disturbing footage

[MAK]

  I didn't know falcons took prey on the ground. I thought they just struck in mid-air. Still learning.

[Donna]

I didn't know falcons took prey on the ground. I thought they just struck in mid-air. Still learning.

Didn't Carol see CB going after ducks? Guess they do what they have to....to survive. Was the video bad?

[goldengirl]

This peregrine is blind in one eye, is banded with one green band and one silver band with the number 38 on one band.  The action took place at Plum Island on the Massachusetts coast this week. Does anyone know if any of M&K's offspring had similar bands?
Jane
goldengirl@me.com

[Donna]

This peregrine is blind in one eye, is banded with one green band and one silver band with the number 38 on one band.  The action took place at Plum Island on the Massachusetts coast this week. Does anyone know if any of M&K's offspring had similar bands?
Jane
goldengirl@me.com

WOW, that probably explains why she was hunting on the ground. Sad. None of MK's kids have that band #. Thanks for the info.

[nwfloridafalconfan]

[quote Contains some disturbing footage[/b][/color]
[/quote]

The most disturbing thing is the background laughter as one bird dies while another struggles.

[Donna]

[quote Contains some disturbing footage[/b][/color]

The most disturbing thing is the background laughter as one bird dies while another struggles.
[/quote]

That's what MAK said too. Hope not laughing at the Falcon killing the Ibis. 

[MAK]

They sounded young and I think they were laughing at each other rather than the birds. I choose to believe that they wouldn't laugh at something being killed!

[jeanne]

I think the laughter was nervous shock.  They were watching birds, the ibis is rare and all of a sudden, smack, here comes the falcon.  It reminded me of when a baby mourning dove landed on Carol P.'s car one year.  She was getting her rescue box cause this was right across from Kodak and she didn't want M/K to get the bird.  As she was thinking this, in came M/K. 

Jane, how do you know the falcon is blind in one eye?  Wonder who this falcon is?

jeanne

[jeanne]

I just found this on google:

BigFrank, could this be a Canadian bird?

Jeanne



Greetings all,

OK - after getting past the technical difficulties, I finally got this posted.

ibis.MOV

I also have a few stills which I may post when I get time. The time stamp on the stills indicates that the falcon was harassing the ibis for over 10 minutes, including landing within feet of the ibis and having staring matches. As a group, we had assumed the match was a stalemate until the "event" took place.

When we left the refuge around 4:30, we also saw a harrier take off from the kill site, apparently the local raptors enjoy "foreign food".

The class had a great day with over 70 species in addition to the excitement.

Mike
_________________________________
Michael Blust
Professor of Biology
Green Mountain College
Poultney, VT 05764
802-287-8331
(email address filtered)
________________________________
From: Deb La Roy [mailto:(email address filtered)]
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 5:49 PM
To: (email address filtered); Michael Blust
Subject: White-faced Ibis demise - correction and addendum

A big thank you to Dr. Michael Blust, Professor of Biology at Green Mountain College in POULTNEY, VT and to his class of ornithology students for sharing the pictures and video of the one-eyed Peregrine Falcon taking out the White-faced Ibis. All of the birdwatchers loved being able to share the wonderful video of this amazing event. Acording to Dr Blust, it took about 5 minutes for the Peregrine to subdue the Ibis, drowning the Ibis.

What a wonderful sighting for this college ornithology class!

The Peregrine Falcon had two leg bands, one silver USFWS band on right leg (too far to get a band number) and a green band with the number 38 on the left leg.

Keep a lookout for this Peregrine on Plum Island. It is easily distinguished by the blind left eye and the green leg band.

On the way out of the Parker River Wildlife Refuge, Liz Southworth and I spotted the Peregrine sitting on a log just north of the salt pannes. We stopped to look and in addition to the Peregrine Falcon, there was a Northern Harrier on the ground, about 10 feet closer to the road then the falcon. The Northern Harrier was feeding on a carcass of what was likely the White-faced Ibis. Unfortunately, we only saw the wing and part of the body of this carcass and did not see the head so could not confirm it was the Ibis being eaten by the Harrier. Once the Harrier flew off, the Peregrine came down to the carcass to feed once again before flying off with a bulging crop.

Go raptors!

[loheron]

I agree with nervous laughter. They as witnesses experienced how the cycle of life works in a very dramatic way.
We falcon watchers when seeing a stoop are prone to similar emotions. We've cheered for the falcon knowing that success meant the snuffing of another bird's life.
We've never seen it up close tho' nor watched the struggle when the prey is as big as or bigger than the peregrine.
It is a powerful video on many fronts.

[Paul Hamilton]

That class was in shock.  It's one thing to watch an attack when you are a falcon watcher and another when you have never seen a peregrine before and have absolutely no idea that anything might happen. It's like the fabric of reality was torn apart.  Even the ibis was unaware. 

Paul