Interesting Peregrine Falcon in Islamabad



The photograph, by Riaz, shown below is a Peregrine Falcon of the race Falco peregrinus peregrinator, a subspecies that is persecuted by falconers. Roberts (1991) considered this race of Peregrine Falcon (also known as Shaheen) only an occasional straggler to Pakistan. It is a bird, which is resident in peninsular India and possibly breeds in the eastern Himalayas.

However, when a Shaheen turns up in an extralimitary context there will always be suspicions about it being an escaped falconer’s bird. Although no jessies are visible on the bird this possibility cannot be discounted. Even so, the Shaheen is, arguably, the most impressive of all Peregrine Falcon races as can be seen in this very nice photograph
 
Peregrine Falcon Riaz

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