{"id":3601,"date":"2012-01-04T20:28:30","date_gmt":"2012-01-05T04:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thebirdersreport.com\/?p=3601"},"modified":"2012-01-04T20:28:30","modified_gmt":"2012-01-05T04:28:30","slug":"the-prairie-falcon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebirdersreport.com\/wild-birds\/birds-of-prey\/the-prairie-falcon","title":{"rendered":"The Prairie Falcon"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Prairie Falcon<\/strong> (Falco mexicanus<\/em>) photos by Larry Jordan<\/p>\n On our recent Fall River Christmas Bird Count on December 17th, we tallied 127 species in our count circle. Some finds were extraordinary, like the Long-tailed Duck, Common Redpoll, Red-naped Sapsucker and American Tree Sparrow.<\/p>\n Others like the Prairie Falcon<\/strong> (Falco mexicanus<\/em>) are seen every winter in the Fall River\/McArthur area. However, according to this range map, courtesy of Terry Sohl of South Dakota Birds, I should look for Prairie Falcons there in the early spring when they begin nesting. Click on photos for full sized images.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Prairie Falcon<\/strong> inhabits dry environments of western North America where cliffs or bluffs punctuate open plains and shrub-steppe deserts. An efficient and specialized predator of medium-sized desert mammals and birds, the Prairie Falcon<\/strong> ranges widely, searching large areas for patchily distributed prey1<\/sup><\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Several species of ground squirrels<\/em> are the mainstay of the Prairie Falcon\u2019s<\/strong> diet; they provide fat-rich calories that the Prairie Falcon<\/strong> needs for raising its broods of 4\u20135 young during its 3 to 4 month nesting season. When ground squirrels move underground to escape summer heat and dryness, Prairie Falcons<\/strong> leave their nesting areas in search of other prey. Horned Larks <\/em> and Western Meadowlarks <\/em> are important prey items in winter1<\/sup><\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Having missed the opportunity to see the rare Common Redpoll (rare for our neck of the woods or savannahs that is) I headed back up to McArthur to try to see the Redpoll about a week after the CBC. I dipped on the Common Redpoll but got these photos of the Prairie Falcon<\/strong> for my efforts.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A second trip to the Fall River area a couple weeks later yielded the Common Redpoll, American Tree Sparrow and the Western Screech-Owl seen in the previous post. I was never able to catch up with the Red-naped Sapsucker but getting close-up views of the Prairie Falcon<\/strong> was enough to make this birder happy!<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n If you want to see some really<\/span> incredible photos of the Prairie Falcon, check out my friend Mia McPherson’s post<\/a>. Now those are some gorgeous shots! To see more great bird photos from around the world, check out World Bird Wednesday<\/a>!<\/p>\n