Nine Prairie Falcons (Falco mexicanus) were radio-tagged
in northern California during the spring and summer
of 1976 and 1977 to study foraging behavior. The mean home
range size for 3 males was 227.8 km²; largest portions of
the home range were used during the incubation period.
Shifts in foraging areas and prey species were associated
with the hatching of young falcons. Falcons flew a mean
distance of 7.2 km from nest sites to foraging areas. The
mean time falcons spent foraging per day was 1.4 hr. Mean
attack distance between falcons and prey was 424 m. Males
flew shorter attack distances and, on the average, made
fewer foraging attempts than females. Three calculations
yielded an average of about 3.0 foraging attempts per kill
and, overall, 25% of all foraging attempts were successful.
Falcons chose areas of low, sparse vegetation for foraging.
Mammalian prey, specifically the Belding's ground squirrel
(Spermophilus beldingi), predominated in the diet. Six
methods of attacking prey were used by falcons but the low
course flight was most frequently observed. / Graduation date: 1983
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/26909 |
| Date | 10 December 1982 |
| Creators | Haak, Bruce A. |
| Contributors | Jarvis, Robert L. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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