Researchers observed how COVID related quarantines changed what London peregrine falcons hunted, revealing nuanced links between city life and raptor feeding behavior. The study, carried out by ornithologists and reported by the British Ecological Society, confirms that even a single urban center can show measurable shifts in prey use when human activity abruptly changes.
The peregrine falcon is a widespread raptor found across most continents, with only Antarctica lacking its presence. While they are relatively uncommon overall, these birds sustain small yet enduring populations inside crowded urban environments, including major European capitals where tall structures mimic natural cliff habitats and provide advantageous hunting perches.
In the UK, researchers collected online feeds from 31 peregrine falcon nests across 27 cities to document hunting patterns over three breeding seasons. The first season coincided with the onset of quarantines linked to the COVID crisis. In London, the data show a clear shift away from pigeons as the primary prey, with a 15 percent reduction in pigeon catches. Falcons in the capital increasingly relied on starlings, parrots, and other birds to fill the dietary gap, while a different pattern emerged in other cities where pigeons remained the dominant prey throughout the study window. These observations demonstrate how quickly urban food webs can adapt when human behavior changes and waste streams are altered.
Several factors likely contributed to the observed changes. A decrease in the number of pigeons present in city areas seems plausible since many people reduced feeding activities during quarantines. Additionally, the overall amount of food waste available to urban birds may have declined, limiting reliable food sources for pigeons in some districts. These shifts could push pigeons to search for food in locations where peregrines typically hunt less, changing the frequency with which different prey species appear in falcon diets.
Overall, the researchers contend that the findings highlight the complexity of ecological relationships within urban ecosystems. They emphasize that a combination of altered human behavior and changes in waste distribution can ripple through predator populations, affecting prey choice and hunting strategies. The study aligns with earlier observations showing that predator and prey dynamics respond to human actions, even when those actions occur outside traditional wildlife management frameworks. For example, researchers in another region noted that a raptor population responded sharply to reductions in local pigeon and poultry production, underscoring how urban ecosystems are tightly linked to agricultural and waste practices.
These insights contribute to a broader understanding of how cities can influence wildlife behavior. They remind planners, conservationists, and residents that human activities can unintentionally reshape local food webs. By tracking how urban predators adapt to changing prey availability, scientists can better interpret shifts in biodiversity within cities and inform efforts to support urban wildlife health and resilience.
The study also underscores the value of long term, city wide observations for detecting subtle trends. By maintaining consistent monitoring across multiple centers, researchers can distinguish transient fluctuations from enduring patterns, thereby refining predictive models for urban ecology. In the end, the London example demonstrates that even in densely populated areas, nature persists in surprising ways, adjusting to new circumstances with remarkable flexibility and resilience. In this sense, city life and wildlife share an ongoing dialogue that continues to unfold with each change in human behavior and city management practices. Attribution: British Ecological Society report on urban predator prey dynamics in the COVID period.