Southern Cross Peregrines Poised to Head North

As we enter the month of April, 2009, we are checking the satellite data each day to see if and when our three satellite-tagged peregrines (Sparrow King, Elizabetha and Island Girl) begin their long journeys home to their eyries in North America.

If all goes well, this will be the third migration north for Sparrow King, an unprecedented number of years for a satellite-tagged Chilean migrant. We are all hoping that his transmitter continues to function well for this migration too. He holds the transmitter longevity record for the project right now.

In 2007, he began his migration around 12 April; in 2008, 19 April.

The same holds true for Elizabetha, set to begin her second migration north with a satellite transmitter. We are hoping to get by the dreaded "one year hurdle" on her transmitter, the short life span we have experienced with several other of these transmitters so far.

In 2008, she began her northern migration on 12 April.

And then there is Island Girl, tagged just last month. She is what we are calling an anatum-type of falcon, i.e. lots of rose in her breast feathers and a fuller cap than you might expect in a tundra migrant peregrine. But then, we have learned that this type of coloration is often found among tundra peregrines in Canada, Alaska and Greenland.

Unfortunately, this coloration and plumage pattern is also found in some resident Chilean peregrines as well.

One of our discoveries on this project is the often difficult process of separating "wintering" tundra migrants from the resident birds in Chile. The La Serena bird is a perfect example. She could easily pass for a North American anatum falcon if you saw her at Padre Island, Texas. But she is a full resident, non-migratory Chilean bird.

Island Girl fits this latter category. We think that she is likely a northern bird for several reasons (using Putu like other tundra birds, not roosting at an eyrie, adjacent range to Elizabetha) but we are not positive that this is the case. We will discover the answer about her status when and if she starts flying north, most likely in the next two weeks. She will let us know.

As always with this project, only time will tell.