Have you spotted this rare winter visitor lately? Harlequin from clubsnap did and has pictures to show. Have you wondered then about its name? Peregrine is the anglicized version of the latin word peregrinus which means wandering. No prizes for guessing what Falco is. Birds of prey need large areas to hunt and the mountainous regions of Central Asia support populations of these birds. You might think being at the top of the foodchain is easy. But use of illegal pesticides like DDT have diminished populations of birds of prey. Its not easy to see the link: many toxins are accumulative (especially the ones that dissolve in fat), so when you are the top predator you can accumulate a lot of toxins just by feeding normally. When I think about how humans are also a top predator, some how I would feel uneasy as well. In that sense, the degradation of our natural environment are warning signals that something is wrong. I just wish its not too late...
Reference
Biodiversity Hotspots - Mountains of Central Asia - Unique and Threated Biodiversity
http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/central_asia/biodiversity.xml
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
http://museum.utep.edu/chih/theland/animals/birds/falcopere.htm
Peregrine Falcon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_Falcon
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