HUNTING TERRITORY:
The Peregrine is a species of open spaces which adapts to a great diversity of different habitats. The size and shape of the Peregrine's hunting territory depend on the topography of their territory, the vegetation cover and on the availability of prey. If the topography of the territory is limited to a cliff or a vertical wall presiding over a large open space (the sea, for example) and, in addition, the presence of prey is abundant (along a migratory route, for example), the territory may be smaller as a large area is not necessary to find and capture prey. In contrast, if the territory has few vertical walls and considerable forest cover, the territory needed is much larger as prey are more difficult to find and, therefore, to capture.
Sea cliff
In summary, in favourable environs (a vertical wall suitable for nesting in front of an open space, with little vegetation cover) a pair could be found every 2km2. If in addition, we add a high density of prey, this density could be as high as a pair every 1km2. In contrast, if the habitat is unfavourable (if there is considerable forest cover) the density may fall to a pair every 10km2.
The male is in charge of conserving the territory between breeding seasons. Some females outside the reproduction period show no relationship with a specific territory and flit from one place to another. If the female of the pair dies, the male will conserve the territory and may attract a new female. If it is the male which dies and no new male turns up before the start of the breeding season, the female will abandon the territory.
Wooded vale
BREEDING TERRITORY:
Sedentary Peregrines -those which don't migrate and which stay all year in the same place- such as Barcelona's birds, spend more time around the area where they are going to nest when the breeding season arrives. Outside the breeding season, the majority of these pairs tend not stray far. During the autumn and winter they also use them to rest and sleep, and as look-out posts from which to dive after their quarry.
While hunting territories have a variable extension and may overlap with those of neighbouring pairs, the breeding territory is rigid. The breeding territory is shaped like a bubble, and measures 400 to 600 metres in diameter, with its centre some hundred metres in front of the nest.
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