An injured peregrine falcon that was found by a roadside in Guernsey was initially thought to have fallen victim to a cruel hunting method. It turns out that the falcon had simply made the mistake of messing with the wrong seagull.
The falcon had been rendered flightless by an unknown substance on her wings. Initially, it was thought to be glue; laboratory analysis revealed the presence of “partially digested fish matter”. Seagulls use projectile vomiting as a natural defense.
Ashley Smith, chief executive officer of the Hawk Conservancy Trust, where the distressed falcon was nursed back to health explained:
We now believe that the peregrine may have preyed upon seabirds, possibly a gull, which has used its primary defence mechanism of projectile vomiting to escape her.
The partially-digested fish matter would have coated her feathers and she would then have tried to clean herself by dust bathing.
This would explain the high presence of sand and soil in the sample, which had encrusted her feathers and prevented her from flying.