MALE OR FEMALE?



Struggling to tell the difference between male and female? The following information might be helpful.

As with many other raptors, the female peregrine is larger than the male. The male is a third smaller than the female. Although this is a useful fact to remember if looking at pictures from the nestcam, it is not usually a great help if you see a single bird flying around or on the cathedral. The picture shows the size difference, even after allowances are made for perspective.

Female peregrines can be easy to identify soon after a meal because they have a distinctive “golf-ball crop.”

Some of the other characteristics described in this guide are specific to the Wakefield peregrines. The Wakefield male has a ring on his right leg. The number on the ring tells us that he was ringed as a chick in a nest on St George’s Church, Sheffield on 16th May, 2014.

It is normal for females to have heavier markings on their chests than the males and this is the case for the Wakefield birds. Markings on the male’s chest don’t extend as high as those on the female’s chest. In addition, the male’s chest usually appears whiter than the female’s, especially when he sits on the spire, catching the sun.

The female looks more muscular than the male and, because of her greater bulk, her head can appear smaller relative to her body. The male has a smoother, sleeker appearance. The yellow eye ring of the female is more conspicuous than that of the male. The resident female at Wakefield does not have any rings on its legs.

When you have absorbed these facts, you can still expect it to be difficult, at times, to tell which bird you are looking at.