Results of eighteen years (2000–2017) monitoring study of an extra-alpine Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus population in North-Western Italy

Abstract

The Author reports the results of a survey about a breeding extra-alpine Peregrine Falcon population in Cuneo Province, NW Italy. The first reproduction was recorded in 2000, and from that year, the monitoring work localized 16 occupied territories in an area of 1,900 km 2 covering the hills and nearby lowland areas. The average distance between breeding territories was of 7.6 km with a density 0.7 pairs/100 km 2 . During the eighteen years, 89 successful breeding attempts were recorded, 81 of them led to fledging of 206 young. Average breeding success was 2.5 juv/reproducing pairs. The nests are located on bridges (motorway viaducts and rail way bridges) and clay/sandstone cliffs. Preliminary prey analyses showed that pigeons and doves represent the 75% of their diet.