Elizabetha Exploring Ecuador

Well, this falcon is exhibiting some more new behavior.

She has moved only a few miles over the last several days (12 km or 7 miles yesterday) and remains in the Andean foothill region of western Ecuador. Over the last six days, she has only crossed about a third of the country, all of it in the mountains.

We are not certain what she is doing there and what it is that might be holding her attention in this area of the tropics. She does seem to be moving a bit west and lower in elevation.

Could her slow migration be weather related? Perhaps there are heavy rains in the foothills that are impeding her flight.

Could it be prey? Maybe she has an opportunity to capture some favored prey species.

She may also need to "re-fuel" and add some fat to power the rest of the migration south.

Could it be that she will select a new and different location in Ecuador for her "wintering" months? And note the italics and quote marks around "wintering" so near the equator (a common northern hemisphere term and misleading in the extreme when it comes to Neotropical migrants).

Our colleague, Oscar Beingolea, in Peru suggests that northern adult female peregrines may be less philopatric than adult males. He rarely sees them return to the same locations in Peru.

All we can do at this point is wait and see what she will do.