Status of Peregrine Falcons on Madeira (1 Viewer)

[Allen S. Moore]

I have read in a website madeira.seawatching.net that juvenile peregrines were seen in Madeira last month at both Ponta do Pargo and in the Porto Moniz area. It is true that it is more than 10 years since I visited that fine island, but I was under the impression that only 3 species of raptors bred in Madeira - buzzard, sparrowhawk and kestrel. Looking at the records on the website, when did peregrines colonise Madeira?

Allen

 

[Allen S. Moore]

It might be "sad" to be replying to my own thread when no one else has, but I looked up the peregrine falcon account in Tony Clarke's Birds of the Atlantic Islands, published by Helm Field Guides in 2006. For Madeira Tony mentions singles at Funchal in 1990 and Ponta de Sao Laurenco in 2001, and "Also recorded from the Salvage Islands." Breeding at 2 sites is a marked change in status since Tony wrote that (2004, I think).

Allen