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Articles

Vol. 49 No. 2 (2018)

ATTEMPTED KLEPTOPARASITISM OF A WHITETAILED KITE BY A PEREGRINE FALCON

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21199/WB49.2.5
Submitted
September 17, 2025
Published
April 1, 2018

Abstract

 Kleptoparasitism, the intraspecific and interspecific stealing of food already procured, is an opportunistic method of foraging used by many species of birds (Brockmann and Barnard 1979). The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is known to kleptoparasitize a variety of bird species, including large gulls (Larus spp.), the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus), Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius), Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata), Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus), Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Merlin (Falco columbarius), Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), Carrion Crow (Corvus corone), and Common Raven (Corvus corax) (Bent 1937, Meinertzhagen 1959, Dekker 1980, 1999, 2003, Longrigg 1981, Zuberogoitia et al 2002, Moshkin 2009, White et al. 2002, 2013). In this note we report the fist documented incident of a Peregrine Falcon attempting to kleptoparasitize a White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus).

References