Home Range of an Adult Female Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) during the Breeding and Non-breeding Seasons in Kentucky, USA

Abstract

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Kentucky's State Wildlife Action Plan. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has monitored Kentucky's peregrine falcon population since 1997. However, research on the movements, habitat use, and breeding and non-breeding home range of Kentucky's nesting peregrine falcons is lacking. In this study, we used a solar-powered platform transmitter terminal (PTT) with global positioning system (GPS) and Argos capabilities to monitor the movements of a single adult, breeding female, peregrine falcon from 7 June 2015 to 4 May 2018. We found that the female falcon spent the majority of her time in close proximity to the nest site throughout the breeding and non-breeding season. Seasonal home range varied significantly with the largest home range size estimated during the post-fledging period, followed by the non-breeding season, and the smallest home range occurring during the pre-fledge period of the breeding season. We suspect that the increase in home range size observed during the post-fledging period can be attributed to parental care and post-fledge dependency of young.