Three kilometers above the Earth's surface, a peregrine falcon struck and killed a migrating coastal pipit. Thus, researchers confirmed for the first time that bird hunting occurs at such high altitudes.
"The study helps us understand why migrating birds often fly at extremely high heights," says biologist researcher Arne Hegemann in a press release from Lund University.
The event on a warm spring day above Skåne was caught by chance – thanks to researchers from the Netherlands having equipped this coastal pipit with a transmitter, which was later found in the Skåne falcon's nest.
"Nature is fascinating! The fact that a migratory bird like the coastal pipit flies hundreds of miles non-stop at several thousand meters' height is spectacular," comments biology professor Åke Lindström in the press release.
