A few days ago I posted about an unusual bird that brought her prey to one of the condo balconies where we are.   Later, our friend George did some research and found a photo of an Aplomado Falcon, and we knew it was a match.

Today I was contacted by a biologist who is with one of the
organizations responsible for this falcon’s release on Mustang Island (The Peregrine Fund).  He said some of the falcons released were equipped with transmitters, and the wire would be visible under the tail.  The photo above shows it clearly.  He also said this is a female (her banding shows P2 in many photos).

Some who saw her prey thought it was a pigeon, but the biologist suggested it could possibly (and more likely) have been a Eurasian Collared Dove.

There was also a comment on my previous post by someone who volunteered as a hack site attendant during the release of these birds last summer.  She commented that this particular female was one of the strongest birds.

Wow — that was so much fun to get more information on this bird and learn a little more about what’s happening on Mustang Island during the time we’re not here.  I MUST get a local newspaper subscription!

If you saying to yourself…”what kind of falcon???”, you’re not alone.

Wednesday some of us staying at the Sandcastle Condominiums in Port Aransas, TX, were treated to the rare sighting of one of these birds.  He (or she) caught a pigeon and brought it to one of the third-floor balconies to enjoy this meal.  Then the aplomado falcon got kind of distracted by all the activity by the hot tubs and everyone’s attention focused on him.  He stuck around for about an hour, either perching on the balcony or hopping down to consume his meal.

I read online that 23 aplomado falcon youngsters were released on Mustang Island last summer (2012), and I’m sure this was one of them.  (Port Aransas is on Mustang Island.)  We sure didn’t know what we were looking at at the time, we just knew we had never seen anything like it before.  What a treat!

For more information on this bird, fly on over to the Ecobirder’s web site.  This is a birding site I follow, and you can always find the link to his site on my right-hand sidebar under Fun Places to Visit.