Falcons get taste for parakeet as lockdown left pigeons scarce
FALCONS in London turned to eating parakeets after pigeons fled the capital during lockdown, a study has found.
With fewer people about, pigeons were no longer lured in by discarded fast food, leaving their natural predators having to look elsewhere.
So peregrine falcons had to turn to starlings and parakeets to fill the gap. But in other cities in the study pigeons remained the falcons’ favourite food.
The results reveal how sensitive peregrine falcons are to human behaviour.
King’s College London and University of Bristol experts added that managing pest species and their food sources is usually driven by people.
But, reducing pests could force raptors to switch prey or forage further away from nests.
Dr Brandon Mak of King’s College London, said: “Our results indicate that peregrines in larger, highly urbanised cities such as London may be more dependent on, and hence more vulnerable to, changes in human activities which support their prey populations, particularly feral pigeons.
“The world is still learning about the consequences of lockdowns on wildlife, which promises to shed light on how human and animal lives are linked in our shared environments.”
In London, peregrines ate 15 per cent fewer pigeons as prey.
They were replaced with 7 per cent more starlings and 3 per cent more parakeets, while peregrines in other cities made no changes.
The researchers referenced how goshawk populations in Poland almost halved when farmers stopped rearing domestic pigeons and poultry, the goshawk’s usual prey. Such changes in feeding activity can force predators to eat less nutrient-rich prey.
Hunting could also become far more time and energy consuming, leaving predators less time to reproduce or maintain fitness levels.
Scientists used online live streams to monitor 31 peregrine falcon nests in 27 UK cities for the study published in the journal People and Nature.
They studied them for three breeding sessions, the first taking place during pandemic restrictions.