RE: Prairie falcon recently spotted in SC

["Donna S. Bailey" <dsbailey@conterra.com>]

While an escaped captive is possible for the Prairie Falcon, I spoke with
Sharon at length about this bird.  She had an excellent look at the bird at
a vertical distance of about 100 feet.  Had the bird had jesses, bells or a
band (and granted there could be the rare falconer who does not utilize
these on his birds), she would have seen and reported them to me and in her
posting.

As background to this sighting, the ACE Basin does on occasion produce some
bizarre hawk records.  Some few years ago, a Swainson's Hawk was found in
the same general area this falcon was spotted in.  That hawk was written up,
photographed and accepted by the South Carolina Bird Records Committee.  The
western subspecies of Red-tail Hawk has been found in that area (and in
other areas of South Carolina), as has a possible Krider's/Harlan's
intergrade Red-tail and a Fuertes Red-tail.  As they were only color morphs
or subspecies of a fairly common and widespread species, these birds were
not written up or officially reported.

As for the status of Prairie Falcon in SC, they are listed on the
Provisional II list (introduced).  There are two previous sightings of
Prairie Falcon for SC, both in the Upstate (Clemson and Pendleton), both in
late November, one in 1977, one in 1978.  Both sightings were believed to be
of escaped falconers birds.  

  

 
Donna Bailey
Winnsboro, SC
e-mail: dsbailey@conterra.com
URL: http://www.conterra.com/dsbailey
     "Where are the Birds?  Migration across South Carolina"