Aspects of the biology of the Grey Falcon Falco hypoleucos in the Pilbara region of Western Australia
| Posted: |
29/03/2021 |
| Author(s): |
A. J. G. Sutton |
The diet and breeding biology of two pairs of Grey Falcons Falco hypoleucos were studied in the eastern Pilbara
region of arid north-western Australia during the second half of 1987, after average to above-average rainfall in the
preceding six months. The two simultaneously active nests were old stick nests in riparian eucalypts, approximately 23
kilometres apart on a dry river, with a natural waterhole approximately seven kilometres from one nest and bores 5–10
kilometres from both nests. Egg-laying occurred in mid-July, hatching in late August and fl edging around the end of
September, giving incubation and nestling periods of approximately fi ve weeks and six weeks, respectively. Both broods
fl edged three young. Two banded juveniles from one nest still associated, within one kilometre of the nest, three months
after fl edging. The Grey Falcons’ diet at both nests consisted mainly of birds, particularly Galah Eolophus roseicapillus,
Australian Ringneck Barnardius zonarius, Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus and others (?kingfisher, small passerine),
and some insects (beetles Coleoptera, grasshoppers Acridoidea).
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