What a fascinating bird! I can watch that video over and over again. The larger falcon (female) setting the boundaries for the smaller tiercel (male)!
That was in January 2025. Captured by Bharath. The first year that the tiercel showed up. And the falcon was making clear what the boundaries were. Look at how the tiercel dives out in the face of the approaching Vismaya!
Prior to that, Vismaya the falcon was queen of the MRC nagar skies. MNS member Sanjeev “discovered” her in 2023, and since then, every winter to early summer, she has come back to the same ledge. And last year so did a tiercel - Mayan.
I have a balcony view of these Peregrines, and I can watch them endlessly. They have co-habited this winter sojourn as well. A strange co-existence. Two loners, happy in their own company.
Peregrines do not flap around needlessly. They perch, wait, observe. Every time I go onto the balcony I can feel their eyes swivel towards me, once they see me as no danger, they then ignore me. If a horn blows, an aeroplane whirrs by, I can see them looking. To my eyes, there is no busyness to them - only a monk-like calmness and focus.
Peregrines do not show off their speed. They just use it when needed. High speed is their tool, not a lifestyle statement to be flaunted.
Peregrines have adapted. They are found in cities across the world, and now even in Chennai! They have learnt to hunt fat city pigeons and hapless parakeets. At the dinner table, they will get to work - defeathering and eating - making short work of their meal.
Peregrines are whispering death. No neighbourhood bullying like the crows, no aggression - but oh what respect they get! As soon as they come, the other ledges empty quickly, as the pigeons and crows leave in a hurry.
Peregrines are a very un-Freudian species in my opinion - not driven constantly by the sex drive. Look at this pair of peregrines. They are not in breeding territory, and they have no interest in mating manoeuvres - I am really astonished by that. Is there any other species like this? Is their sex drive gated by seasonality? They are monogamous for a season, but they don’t migrate in the winter with their partner. Why not, I wonder. A pair often reunites year after year at the same nesting site if both partners survive. I mean, how enigmatic is this species!
Last evening, as I watched them intermittently through the afternoon, Mayan was preening and fidgety, stretching his wings every half hour or so. Vismaya sat with hardly a muscle stirring, head moving now and then when loud human or bird sounds intruded. Around 540pm, she stretched and in a trice, she was gone! And when I blinked and looked so had Mayan!
