Peregrine and Galah

[Ian McLachlan]

This was taken on the cliffs of the Murray river in South Australia. These birds have big feet i understand to be able to kill and carry this pretty large parrot. She had already removed the head before she hid the prey five hours earlier.


172969

Canon 1dx
600mm
1/3200
h.h. from dinghy
f6.3
ISO. 640
C&C very welcome.

[David Salem]

Wow Ian this is fantastic. Not that easy to get a shot like this so VERY well done! Great that the head is nice and sharp with a catchlight in her eye and she has her beak open also.
The wing position isn't too bad and there's lots of nice detail in the under wings although they are shadowed. Also fantastic to see the prey well and we are able to identify that it is a Galah. I don't mind the cliff in the background as it's not going to fly to far from it with the prey. Not sure I would change anything besides maybe removing the small lower catchlight in the eye.

For your information peregrine falcons really do not use their feet to kill things. They use their beak that has a specialized notch that can be seen well in this photo, and it is inherent in all falcons. It's called "The Tomial Tooth". This tooth is designed by nature to fit into the vertebra of the prey that it hunts so that it can be dispatched in a hurry as not to let the falcon get hurt by the oversized and dangerous prey. Other raptors like hawks and eagles do not have this tooth and depend on their great strength and pressure in their feet to kill and suffocate the prey item.

Also you mentioned her hiding the prey. This is called "cashing" and is common amongst most predators, especially when they are in high condition.

Look forward to more from your trip

[annmpacheco]

awesome image Ian, you must be so pleased! details on the falcon are terrific, and great that we see the galah so clearly. Thanks David for that interesting information about their tomial tooth...

[Jay Ing]

Super shot... IQ, action, light. Love it.

[Ian McLachlan]

Thanks for those comments and David for all the info. and on the t. tooth. They are an incredibly lethal machine. One day will get lucky with the shadows .In 5 days the male did not bring in a galah that I saw, but knocked one in the sky which the female caught as it fell and brought in as she is much bigger and seemed to do the heavy lifting. He came in to the youngsters in the mornings with lighter weight parrots and other smaller birds.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I would suspect, that there would be times the prey would die instantly from the impact alone and also depending on where the talons pierce through its body.

Love this image mate, certainly not something one would see often. Well done in being a quick shot in this instance. Cheers