Lockdown forced London’s peregrine falcons to eat more parakeets

Pigeons are often the popular prey of peregrine falcons in London, however in the course of the covid-19 lockdown in 2020, the falcons caught extra starlings and parakeets as a substitute

By Madeleine Cuff

London’s peregrine falcons switched from consuming pigeons to parakeets in the course of the first covid-19 lockdown in 2020, as city birds felt the impression of people staying at house.

Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus), the world’s quickest birds, arrived in UK cities within the Nineties, attracted by the abundance of their most well-liked prey, pigeons.

But the covid-19 pandemic prompted a pointy shift within the consuming habits of a few of them.

Citizen scientists working with researchers from King’s College London used stay streams of 42 peregrine falcon nests in 27 cities in England to observe the birds’ diets throughout three breeding seasons.

The first – between March and June 2020 – coincided with the preliminary coronavirus lockdown in England. At this time in London, pigeons made up 35 per cent of the falcon’s prey, starlings 36 per cent and parakeets 18 per cent.

At the identical time of yr in 2021 and 2022, when covid-19 restrictions have been a lot much less stringent, pigeons made up 49 per cent of falcons’ diets in London, starlings 29 per cent and parakeets 15 per cent.

Brandon Mak at King’s College London says the shift in food plan was most likely as a result of results of lockdown. Without vacationers scattering sandwich crusts and crisp crumbs throughout London’s parks and squares, pigeons scattered to the suburbs throughout lockdown, leaving peregrines to depend on different prey.

The similar dietary shift wasn’t noticed in peregrines in different English cities. That might be as a result of the pigeons there weren’t as reliant on human litter for meals, says Mak, and so lockdown didn’t immediate such a dramatic change in behaviour.

Ring-necked parakeets (Psittacus krameri) grew to become established round London within the Seventies. The RSPB, a fowl conservation charity, is anxious the rising inhabitants in south-east England could possibly be outcompeting native birds for meals and nesting websites.

More peregrine falcons might provide an answer. It is believed there are 40 breeding pairs in London, making it one of many densest populations on the earth.

Since lockdown ended, their consuming habits have returned to a traditional, pigeon-heavy food plan, says Mak. But their rising numbers might assist to maintain pigeon and parakeet numbers in verify regardless, he says.

“Eventually the numbers of the predators would reflect the number of prey,” says Mak. “Over time, once the peregrines reach saturation, you will start seeing lower numbers of pigeons or parakeets.”

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