Video footage from Derby Cathedral is a world first in showing night-hunting by Peregrine Falcons

Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project team claim to have recorded the first ever film in the UK, Europe or North America showing conclusively that Peregrine Falcons use urban floodlighting to catch prey during the night.

For some years, scientists and volunteers monitoring the spread of Peregrine Falcons into urban areas have found the remains of prey items which they believed must have been caught at night. Shy species such as Woodcock, Quail, Water Rails and Little Grebes are often found in autumn and winter, but they rarely fly in daylight, preferring to take wing under the safety of darkness. Reports and articles have been published about this phenomenon, but until now there has been no film footage to prove it conclusively.

Just before Christmas, a web camera installed high on the tower of Derby Cathedral captured film of a Woodcock being brought back late at night. The bird had obviously just been caught in flight and can be seen struggling to get free on the top of a stone gargoyle situated in front of one of the cameras. Here, held firmly by the Peregrine's foot, the Woodcock is quickly killed by a firm bite to the neck. Peregrines store previously caught food to eat at a later date, so it was vital that scientists could see that the prey brought back into camera view after dark was still alive, and had had only just been captured.

Nick Brown, a Project Partner from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: "I decided to look at the web cams about 10:45pm on 20th December and it was clear that, instead of roosting, a Peregrine was very much in hunting mode. The bird flew away out of view of the camera but returned minutes later with prey which was obviously still alive, proving conclusively that it had only just been caught. I alerted another project member from Derby Museums and Art Gallery, who managed to retrieve a video clip from a recorder inside Derby Cathedral's tower. He has now put it on YouTube for all the world to see."

Nick Brown added: "We believe that the footage captured in December is the first ever taken in the UK, Europe or America where Peregrines also nest in cities. Some observers in Taiwan did report filming this activity a few years ago but those recordings have not been publicly released as far as we know. As such, we believe it makes a very important contribution to the scientific study of these raptors, which now nest widely in cities on four continents."

Ed Drewitt of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Britain's national expert on the prey of urban Peregrines, has been helping to identify food remains from Derby since 2006. Ed was also very excited when he saw the footage, agreeing that it provides science with the first ever film available to the public showing that prey is caught after dark anywhere in the world.