FALCO KREYENBORGI-A CURRENT REVIEW

by Clifford M. Anderson 1623 6th Street West Kirkland,Washington 98033

and

David H. Ellis Institute for RaptorStudies Box 4420, OM Star Rt. Oracle, Arizona 85623

Falcokreyenborgi is perhapsthe rarestand certainlythe leastknown of the ten or so "great"falcons (Johnson 1972). It inhabitsthe Patagonianregion of SouthAmerica and is currentlyrecognized from only five collectedspecimens (Hickey 1969) and several sightrecords. The generalecology of the speciesis unknown(Olrog 1968)and its nest and breedingbehavior remain tradescribed with two exceptions;a few fragmentary commentson the originalnest and the allegedfinding of a pair with one recently fledgedyoung by CarlosKovaks in Chubut,Argentina in 1975(W.G. Vasinain letter to C.M. White, 1981).The followingsummarizes the informationpresently available on Falcokreyenborgi.

Specimensand Photographs(see Table 1) The firstspecimen of kreyenborgi,a recently fledged male, was captured at its eyrie in southernChile in 1925(Dementiev 1965). The exactlocation of the sitewas kept se- cret,but wasallegedly located in the vicinityof PuntaArenas, Chile. The circumstances surroundingthe eventare unclear.Stresemann and Amadon(1963) wrote:

"ProfessorC. C. Olrog, InstitutoLillo, Tucum•in,Argentina, tells us that he met certainotter hunters who said they had personally taken the falconsfrom an eyrie on a smallrocky island south of Tierra Del Fuego..."

However,in a letter written to Anderson(6 January1979) Olrog amendedthis as follows:

"The peopleI inquireddid not saywhere the birds camefrom; besidesI had the feelingthey did not wantto tell, andtalking to the cookon board,I got the im- pressionthat the chicksdid not at all come from 'somesmall island'but from Seno Skyring[northwest of Ptmta Arenas]where at that time there was a coal mine... It seemslikely that the localitywas invented."

Kleinschmidt(1937) was told that the nestwas inaccessible at timesbecause of heavy snows and that it was on a "hillside cliff." The originalfalcon was sold to M. CarlosStrauss, a Germanliving in PtmtaArenas

35 RaptorResearch 15(2):33-41 36 RAPTOR RESEARCH Vol. 15 No. 2

whoacquired and sold animals to zoosin Europe.While still in immatureplumage, the falconwas transported to the ZoologicalGarden in Miinster,Germany. It diedin Octo- ber 1932and became the typespecimen of Falcokreyenborgi (Dementicy 1965). Stresemannand Amadon(1963) imply that the three falconswere taken from the sameeyrie at onetime. However,Dementicy (1965) reported:

"At a later date,sadly unknown, two othereyass falcons [a maleand a female]had beencaptured from the samenest as the previousbird... They alsoarrived at the zoologicalgarden at Miinster,attained an adultstage and died" (translation).

The time-lagaccounts for the type specimenbeing placed in a differentmuseum (Bonn, Germany)than the othertwo (Miinster,Germany). It is not knownhow longan interval separatedthe arrivalof thesebirds in Miinster,it may havebeen months or years,al- thougheach of the birdsattained adult plumagebefore death. Kleinschmidt (1937) notedthat all threefalcons were sent to Germanyby Strauss. Sometimebetween 1925 and 1929 a Germanfalconer, Herr-Doctor Kreyenborg, broughtthe originalspecimen to the attentionof Dr. Otto Kleinschmidt,who examined it whilestill alive at the Miinsterzoo. Kleinschmidt recognized it asa new speciesand namedit in honorof Dr. Kreyenborg(Kleinschmidt 1929, 1937). In 1937,in his secondarticle, Kleinschmidt described an unsuccessfulbreeding at- tempt involvingFalco kreyenborgi. Dementicy (1965) summarized the results:

"Kleinschmidt(1937) has publishedthe fact that the male kreyenborgiin the Miinsterzoo waspaired with a femaleof Falcoperegrinus cassini which laid an egg.The detailsremain unfortunately unknown..." (translation).

Kleinschmidt(1937) noted that the male "saton the eggswhile the female... wassick- ly" (translation).This is one of the first recordedinstances of falconsattempting to breedin captivity.A photographof the type specimenof Falcokreyenborgi was also publishedin the 1937 article. Later, Kleinschmidt(1939) referred to the new speciesas Falcoperegrinus kreyen- borgi.This change in systematicsreflects Kleinschmidt's well knownpenchant for link- ing variousrelated forms into "Artenkreise."He alsoincluded a colorplate of kreyen- borgiconsisting of a ventralphotograph of a deadadult with outstretchedwings. It was presumablyone of the Miinsterzoo falcons. Nothingmore was learned about the speciesuntil 7 April 1940,when Olrog (1948) collecteda fourthspecimen, an immaturemale, at EstanciaViamonte on the Argentine sideof Isla Grande.Prior to this,it wasspeculated that the Miinsterfalcons might have beenan aberrantfamily group(Kleinschmidt 1937) or originatedfrom a differentloca- tion thanSouth America. Kleinschmidt (1929) himself had originallythought that they mighthave come from Africa.Therefore, the collectionof anotherspecimen by Olrog from the samegeneral location as the originalbirds was significant(Stresemann and Amadon1963). Olrog (1948)included dorsal and ventral photographsof the bird after preparationas a museumskin. The next referenceto kreyenborgiwas again provided by Kleinschmidt(1958). In the revisedthird editionof a bookon the hawksand owlsof Germany,he includeda color plate of paintingsshowing 22 geographicalrepresentatives from the PeregrineFalcon speciesgroup. Among the illustratedexamples is an adultkreyenborgi. Summer1981 Andersonand Ellis--F. kreyenborgi 37

On 15 August1961, KSroly Kovaks collected the fifth specimenof kreyenborgiin an agriculturalarea approximately 5 km northof E1 Bolson,Rio Negroprovince, Argentina (Kovaks1962-3). A publicationincluded front and rear photosof the mountedspeci- men.This recordextended the rangeof the speciesconsiderably even though it wasan immaturebird (Brownand Amadon1968). Zsolt Kovaksallegedly found a sixth speci- men in Chubutprovince during the mid-1970sbut it was too decomposedto be pre- pared(Csaba Kovaks-pers. comm.). At present,we knownothing more of thisparticular bird. The colorplate of adultand immaturekreyenborgi in Brownand Areadon(1968) was basedon the E1Bolson specimen and oneof the originaladults, both borrowed by Ama- don(pers. comm.). Another photograph of the headof the E1Bolson falcon was included in a paper on ArgentinePeregrines (Vasina 1975). Until recently,there were no knownphotographs of a live specimenof kreyenborgi. On 10 March 1979, Ellis and Glinski(1980) took the first known photosof a wild bird (immature)on Isla Grande.In December1979, T. Roundytook motionpictures of an- otherkreyenborgi (age unknown) both perching and in flight. Thisfilm is currentlyin his possession(pers. comm.).

Sightings The rarity of the speciesis demonstratedby the failure of severalexpeditions to even sightthe bird. However,P. W. Reynoldsstated that "passagebirds" were seenquite fre- quentlyat Viamonteduring the australwinter (Olrog 1948) and recordedseven sight- ingsover one seasonwhile duringthe sameperiod he had 20 Peregrinesightings (W. G. Vasina,lett. to C. M. White, 1981).All otherrecorded sightings of kreyenborgiare sum- marizedbelow in chronologicalorder. 1. 3 May 1975.M. Rumboll(Jehl and Rumboll1976) sighted a singlekreyenborgi "4 km north of Misi6n, near Rio Grande, Isla Grande" feeding on a large unidentified passerine"presumably Pezites militaris" (Military Starling).This is the first recorded prey item for kreyenborgi. 2. 11 May 1975.Rumboll (Jehl and Rumboll1976) sighted another at "EstanciaCon- dor,iust north of the Straitsof Magellan,and 200 km northof Misi6n."He addsthat the two sightingsmay have been of the samebird. 3. 10 March 1979. Ellis and R. Glinski (1980) observedan adult (probablefemale basedon size) perchedfor two min. at a distanceof 40 m and later seenflying on the northeasterncoast of Isla Grande.It had a smallpasserine prey item (sizeclass ca. 30 g). 4. 10 March1979. Ellis and Glinski(1980) saw a juvenile(probably female based on size)as closeas 12 m while it perchedand fed on the carcassof a large gull (probable Larussp.) about 30 km from the earliersighting. This is the third recordedprey item for kreyenborgiand suggests that the falconsubsists primarily on birds. 5. 12 March1979. Glinski(Ellis and Glinski 1980) sighteda falcon(probable female basedon size)for 1-2 min. alongthe Atlantic coastless than i km from the 10 March adultsighting, likely the samebird. 6. 20 December1979. T. Roundyobserved a falconfor approximately30 min.per- chedand flying over steppe habitat in the centralregion of ArgentinePatagonia (pers. comm.). Two additional1980 sightings are describedin anotherpaper by the authors(Ellis and Anderson,this issue). 38 RAPTOR RESEARCH Vol. 15 No. 2

Taxonomy At present,Falco kreyenborgi is consideredto be a separatespecies. However, during the 55 yearssince the bird wasfirst discovered, several opinions about its taxonomicpo- sitionhave been advanced. In the mostcomplete review of the problem,Stresemann and Amadon(1963) support Kleinschmidt's original contention that kreyenborgiis in- deeda separatespecies. The maintaxonomic confusion concerns the positionof kreyenborgiwithin the genus Falcoand its relationshipto Falcoperegrinus. Some authors (c.f. Peters1931:290) con- sideredthe bird to be a questionablesubspecies of the Peregrine,while Kovaks(1962-3) regardedit as mostclosely allied to the Gyrfalcon(Falco rusticolus) and Dementiev (1965)suggested that it waspossibly a raceof the desertfalcon complex, Falco pelegri- noides.In fact, Kleinschmidt(1929) originally mistook the first specimenof kreyenborgi for a BarbaryFalcon (Falco pelegrinoides). Stresemann and Amadon(1963) and Brown and Amadon(1968) also noted the similarity.The formerauthors consider that the ab- senceof the typical adult Peregrineplumage ("color and pattern")probably removes kreyenborgifrom Falco peregrinus and yet its basicmorphology suggests that it belongs in the Peregrinegroup. Sincea Peregrine(Falco peregrinus cassini) inhabits the samegeneral area as kreyen- borgi,it is temptingto suggestthat kreyenborgimight prove to be a memberof the Saker-Gyrfalcon(Falco cherrug-Falco rusticolus) group, of which the nearestNew World representativeis the Prairie Falcon (Falcomexicanus). Minute examinationof

Table 1. SpecimenData for Falcokreyenborgi

Date Characterization Age/Sex CollectedLocality Collector PresentLocation Type Specimen Adult Male 1925 Near Punta Unknown AlexanderKoenig Arenas, Chile Museum, Bonn, Germany

"M6nster" Specimen1 Adult Male 1927 Near Punta Unknown As of January1979, both Arenas, Chile were at the Museum fi•r Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany.

"Mtinster"Specimen 2 Adult Female 1927 Near Punta Unknown Prof. L. Franzisket was Arenas,Chile arrangingfor their return to Mfnster (Westf. Landesmusemn for Naturkunde)

ViamonteSpecimen hnmatureMale 7 Apr EstanciaViamonte,C. C. OlrogRoyal Museum of 1940 Isla Grande, Natural History(Riks Argen. Museum),Stockholm, Sweden

E1Bolson Specimen ImmatureMale 15 Aug E1Bolson, Karoly PuertoMadryn, Chubut, 1961 Rio Negro, Kovaks Argentina* Argentina øReportedto be in the possessionof Carlos Kovaks, 1980. Summer1981 Andersonand Ellis--F. kreyenborgi 39 four of the specimensby Stresemannand Amadon(1963) showed however that kreyen- borgibelongs to the Peregrinegroup as demonstratedby the wing formula,wing shape, and the great lengthof the outer toe. Even more remarkably,it seemsinseparable in sizefrom cassini as iudged admittedly from very few specimensof eitherspecies. Brown and Amadon(1968) conclude "it is impossibleto be surewhat this form is until more is known of it."

Common Name "Kleinschmidt'sFalcon" was first suggestedas a commonname for Falcokreyenborgi by Stresemannand Amadon (1963). It was subsequentlyused by Dementiev (1965), Johnson(1965), Brown and Areadon(1968), Walker, et al (1973), and Blake (1977). Grossmanand Hamlet (1964)first usedthe names"Pallid or Tierra Del FuegoFalcon" followedby Humphrey,et al (1970),Jehl and Rumboll (1976), Gochfeld (1977), and Cle- ments(1978). In pursuitof uniformityin referringto this falcon,we suggestthat the terms"Tierra Del Fuego Falcon" and "Kleinschmidt'sFalcon" be suppressedsince Kleinschmidt's contributionis cited in the full scientificname, Falco kreyenborgiKleinschmidt, and to datenot all of the specimensand sightings are from Tierra Del Fuego.Future research will showif the descriptiveterm "Pallid Falcon" or the lessrestrictive, locative term "PatagonianFalcon" best suits this elusive bird. We thankL. Franzisket,L. Garrett, A. Kostreba,C. Kovaks,C. C. Olrog, D. Paulson, B. Stolt,H. Walter, H. E. Wolters,and especiallyD. Areadon,W. G. Vasinaand C. M. White for their help andreview. We thankL. Franzisket,L. Garrett, A. Kostreba,C. Kovaks,C. C. Olrog, D. Paulson, T. Roundy,B. Stolt,H. Walter, H. E. Wolters,and especiallyD. Amadon,W. G. Vasina and C. M. White for their help and review. Cathy Ellis preparedthe map. The color photoaccompanying both the articleson F. kreyenborgiwas taken by Andersonand fundsto pay for it, in part, camefrom Daniel J. Brimm and SafariClub International Conservation Fund.

Literature Cited Blake, E. R. 1977. A manualof neo-tropicalbirds. Vol. 1. Univ. of ChicagoPress, Chicago. Brown,L. and D. Areadon.1968. Eagles, hawks, and falconsof the world. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York. Clements,J. F. 1978.Birds of the world: a checklist.Two ContinentsPublishing Group, Ltd., New York. Dementiev,G. P. 1965. Quelquesreflexions sur le fauconpelerin de Kleinschmidt,Falco kreyenborgi.E1 Hornero 10:197-201. Ellis,D. H. andR. L. Glinski.1980. Some unusual records for the peregrineand pallid falconsin SouthAmerica. Condor 82(3):350-351. Gochfeld,M. 1977.Peregrine falcon sightings in easternPeru. Condor 79:391-392. Grossman,M. L. and J. Hamlet. 1964. Birdsof prey of the world. ClarksonN. Potter, Inc., New York. Hickey,J. j. ed. 1969. Peregrinefalcon populations: their biologyand decline.Univ. Wisc. Press,Madison. Humphrey,P.S., D. Bridge,P. W. Reynolds,and R. T. Peterson.1970. Birdsof Isla Grande (Tierra Del Fuego). Preliminary SmithsonianManual, Univ. of Kansas Mus. of Nat. Hist. 40 RAPTOR RESEARCH Vol. 15 No. 2

Jehl,J. R. andM. A. E. Rumboll.1976. Notes on the avifaunaof Isla Grandeand Pata- gonia,Argentina. Trans. San Diego Soc.of Nat. Hist. 18(8):145-154. Johnson,A. W. 1965.The birdsof Chile and adjacentregions of Argentina,Bolivia, and Peru. Platt Establecimientos Graficos, Buenos Aires. Johnson,A. W. 1972.Supplement to the birdsof Chile.Platt EstablecimientosGraficos, Buenos Aires. Kleinschmidt,O. 1929.Falco kreyenborgi. Falco (Berajah Zoographia Inf.) 25, 3:33-35. Kleinschmidt,O. 1937. Falco kreyenborgiII. Einezweite Monographiedes Weltfor- menkreisesdes wanderfalken. Berajah. Kleinschmidt,O. 1939.Ueber Sudamerikanische falken. Med. Falk Physics16:103-107. Kleinschmidt,O. 1958.Raubv0gel und eulender hiemat.Third ed., revised.Wittenberg- Lutherstad:A. Ziemsen. Kovaks,A. 1962-3. An extraordinaryfalcon from Argentina.Aquila 69-70:223-224. Olrog, C. C. 1948. Observacionessobre la avifaunade Tierra Del Fuegoy Chile. Acta Zool. Lilloana 5:437-531. Olrog,C. C. 1968.Las avesSudamericas. Instituto Miguel Lillo, Tucum&n,Argentina. Peters,J. L. 1931. Checklist of birds of the world. Vol. 1. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge. Stresemann,E. and D. Amadon.1963. What is Falco kreyenborgi,Kleinschmidt? Ibis 105:400-402. Vasina,W. G. 1975.Algunas consideraciones sobre "Falco peregrinus"en nuestropais. E1 Hornero 11:281-284. Walker, W., R. W. Risebrough,J. T. Mendolaand G. W. Bowes.1973. SouthAmerican studiesof the peregrine,an indicatorspecies for persistantpollutants. Antarctic Journal8:29-31.

ANNOUNCEMENT

QUEBEC RED-SHOULDERED STUDY

In the springof 1980,the MacdonaldRaptor Research Centre of McGill University initiateda Red-shoulderedHawk bandingand markingproject in the south-westernre- gionof Quebecto determinedispersion, migratory movements and recruitment. Birdsare beingbanded with red, white, blue and yellow (and combinationsthereof) plasticbands and standardFWS bands.We would appreciateany sightingsof these birds.Observers are askedto note the band coloursand their relative positionson the legs,as well asthe locationof the sighting. Pleasereport this informationalong with your name,address and phonenumber to the Bird BandingLaboratory, Laurel, MD 20811 with a copy to BRENDA PENAK AND DAVID BIRD, MacdonaldRaptor ResearchCentre, MacdonaldCampus of McGill University,Ste. Anne de Bellevue,Quebec H9X 1C0