Following urban raptors in the Chennai Metropolitan Area

Project Raptor Watch 2.0 by Madras Naturalists’ Society has spread its wings and achieved elevation. Among the exercises that have taken substantial shape are: the data-driven study of Peregrine falcons in markedly urban sites and a close look at the fluctuating Black kite population around the Perungudi dump site and the breeding patterns of the Red necked falcon

On January 17, a tinkle in a WhatsApp group of Madras Naturalists Society (MNS) made Gnanaskandan Kesavabharathi jump out of his seat. A tidbit of information that arrived with that tinkle demanded an immediate response and GK (as he is known in naturalist circles) was on to it, promptly keying in an instruction that elbowed two young MNS members on to the road to MRC Nagar. 

The info that cranked up the series of actions — “not one but two Peregrine falcons lord it over a rash of buildings at MRC Nagar”. It was a tipoff from a resident of MRC Nagar with an MNS membership.

The two MNS members landed at the spot lickety-split to ascertain the snappy report’s veracity. One of the questions to get out of the way: is the new entrant really a Peregrine falcon or a “lookalike”, some other falcon being mistaken for a Peregrine? As sure as eggs are eggs, there were two Peregrine falcons, a male and a female, greeting the two naturalists, while being perched on a tall building. 

Project Raptor Watch (PRW), spearheaded by GK, has been studying this patch for at least three winters, if not more, as a Peregrine falcon had helped itself to it, making it its winter stay, choosing its perch among three tall buldings. The patch is now a divided territory with another Peregrine falcon wading into the space. 

Bharath Ravikumar, one of the two MNS members to study two Peregrine falcons at MRC Nagar, observes: “It was 3.30 p.m. Both of them were perched far apart. There was no hint of any unrest or an incination to ‘ward off’ the other; they were both camly minding their own business. Around 4.30 p.m., the male took to the air and disappeared and half an hour later, he showed up and was perched on the same ledge as the female, but on the opposite end. This seemed to have disturbed her; and she started walking towards him and pushed him off the ledge.” 

If observations elsewhere are anything to go by, they will tolerate each other and might even come to hunt together, as is the case at House of Hiranandani Upscale where two Peregrine falcons — a male and a female — are at ease with each other, sometimes launching what clearly appears to be a joint hunting expedition. These observations have been made by E. Arun Kumar, an MNS member residing at Upscale.

“Of course, as this is the wintering ground, they would not pair off, but they could likely form a bond strong enough to hunt together,” says GK about the two falcons at MRC Nagar. “Based on observations, the possibility of tolerance towards each other is higher if it is a male and a female. Territorial instinct would kick in stronger if both Peregrine falcons were of the same sex.”