ML590491371
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Observation details
Looking north from the Black Elk Peak Trail, we heard persistent calling from cliffs approximately .25 miles away and to the west of Harney Peak, we think. It was immediately recognizable as PEFA because we have experience with the species nesting on Grandfather Mtn. in Watauga/Caldwell/Avery counties, North Carolina, our home area. Our experience with the alarm calls of these local nesting birds was a dead ringer for what we were hearing. The description of the PEFA alarm call from Sibley guide is apt - "a slow scolding rehk rehk rehk...; harsh raucous, each note rising." We compared the sound we were hearing to the Sibley app on our phones, and to both PRFA and AMKE, the only other likely falcons. The calls were clear enough to hear well, and they persisted after we left. The calls lacked the qualities of a shrill, yelping, kik-kik-kik alarm call as would be expected from PRFA. They did not at all resemble any AMKE we had ever heard, and the volume was much too loud. The calls resembled no other raptor that we are familiar with in either the western or eastern U.S., including NOGO, the calls of which I am quite familiar with from assisting with banding efforts in NW Pennsylvania.
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- 202.39 KB