Peregrine Falcon: Profile and Information

The peregrine falcon is scientifically known as Falco peregrinus. In the olden days, it was referred to as the duck hawk.

It’s a predatory bird that originated from a family of raptor birds.

The bird is physically a spectacle as its body is donned in various colors. This large bird has a blue-grey back, a white underside, and a blackhead.

The peregrine is famed for its incredible speed, and it can attain speeds of over 320 kilometers per hour (200 miles per hour) during its high-speed hunting dive from the sky.

This makes it the fastest bird in the world and establishes it as the fastest member of the animal kingdom.

A National Geographic Channel (Nat Geo) television program revealed that the fastest-ever measured speed of a peregrine falcon is 389 kilometers per hour (242 miles per hour).

The Peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic beings. This means that the females are bulkier in size than the males.

The flicker fusion frequency of this bird clocks at 129 Hz (cycles per second), which is incredibly swift for a large bird and swifter than mammals.

Scientific Classification

Just like other animals, the peregrine falcon has its scientific classification, which is illustrated in the table below:

Distribution

The peregrine falcon has a breeding range that includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. The bird can be located virtually on any part of the earth.

The only areas off-limits to this bird are extreme polar regions, high mountains, and most tropical rainforests. New Zealand is The only major territory with an ice-free landmass from which the bird is absent.

Due to its level of pervasiveness, it is considered the world’s most widespread raptor and one of the most widely found birds.

The Rock pigeon is the only land-based bird found over a larger geographic area than the Peregrine falcon.

Still, their presence is not always naturally occurring because, most of the time, humans widely influence them. The rock pigeon also happens to be one of the birds preyed on by the Peregrine falcon.

The falcon can take advantage of incredibly tall buildings as an ideal location for their nests, plus a surplus supply of prey such as pigeons and ducks.

The bird lives up to the meaning of its name, which means “wandering falcon,” referring to the nomadic habits of many northern populations. Animal experts reveal the peregrine falcon has about 17 to 19 subspecies.

Diet

The bird is a carnivore, and its diet mainly consists of medium-sized birds, but on occasion, the bird hunts small-sized mammals, reptiles, and even insects.

The Peregrine falcon becomes sexually mature when it attains a year of age, and they don’t have an age they stop mating. They are sexually active till the end of their lifespan. 

The widespread use of a DDT pesticide marked the peregrine falcon as endangered in many locations.

However, in the early half of the 1970s, a ban was placed on DDT, and the bird population slowly recovered. This population recovery was boosted by large-scale protection of their nesting locations and their release into the wild.

This bird’s standing among other falcons is incredibly high due to its efficient hunting skill, versatility, adaptability, and intelligence, which gives it a high level of trainability and availability through captive breeding.

It’s best at hunting when the targets are other birds, both small and large.

Description

The peregrine falcon’s body ranges between 34 and 58 cm (13 to 23 inches). Its wingspan ranges between 74 and 120 cm (29 to 47 inches). Both genders of the bird share similar markings and plumage.

Like many other birds of prey, the peregrine falcon displays sexual dimorphism in size, with the female being up to 30% larger than the male.

Habitat

The peregrine falcon mostly resides in mountainous ranges, river valleys, and coastlines. They are also becoming increasingly present in cities.

It is usually a permanent resident in mildly temperate regions, and some individuals, especially adult males, will remain on the breeding territory. Only populations that breed in Arctic climates typically migrate long distances during the northern winter.

Aerial Ability

When performing the aerial hunting dive, the peregrine falcon can peak at much quicker speeds than every other animal. This move is executed by soaring to a great height and then diving downwards at speeds of over 320 kilometers per hour (200 miles per hour) before colliding with its prey.

Usually, at such speeds, the air pressure from such a dive could likely damage a bird’s lungs. However, the miniature-sized, bony tubercles on the falcon’s nostrils can guide the powerful airflow away from the nostrils and reduce the dynamics in air pressure. This makes it easier for the bird to breathe while diving.

For sight protection, the falcon uses its nictitating membranes, also called “third eyelids,” to disperse tears and remove debris from its eyes while maintaining vision.

A study conducted to test the flight physics of an “ideal falcon” discovered an astonishing theoretical speed limit of 400 kilometers per hour (250 miles per hour) for low-altitude flight and 625 kilometers per hour (388 miles per hour) for high-altitude flight.

In 2005, a falcon was recorded stooping at a top speed of 389 kilometers per hour (242 miles per hour).

Life Expectancy

Peregrine falcons’ life cycle in the wild is up to 19 years and nine months. Mortality in the first year is 59–70%, reducing to 25–32% annually in adults.

Apart from collisions with anthropogenous hazards such as human-made objects, larger hawks and owls may prey on the peregrine.

Hunting

The peregrine falcon primarily hunts in the wild at sunrise and sunset, when prey are more present. Night-time migrants preyed on by peregrines include yellow-billed cuckoo, black-necked grebe, Virginia rail, and common quail.

This bird needs open space to hunt, so locations such as open water, marshes, valleys, fields, and tundra are ideal. They look for prey from a high vantage point or in the air.

Vast numbers of prey migrating, especially species such as shoebills fond of gathering in open locations, can be tempting to peregrines on the hunt.

Once they spot their target(s), the bird begins its dive. It folds back its tail and wings with its feet tucked during this maneuver.

The falcon strikes with a clenched foot and captures its prey mid-air. Due to the speed, this move usually stuns or kills its prey on impact. But if the prey is too heavy to carry, the bird will drop it to the ground and feed it there.

If the falcon misses its first strike, they will engage their prey in a hot chase, twisting their bodies in flight. The birds don’t just rely on flight to hunt prey.

Several cases have been reported of peregrines contour-hunting, which uses ambush points and contours to spring surprise attacks on prey. In some rare cases, they even pursue their prey on foot.

They also attack the nests of birds such as Kittiwakes. Peregrines usually pluck their prey before consuming them. As of 2018, the fastest recorded falcon was at 242 miles per hour (approximately 390 kilometers per hour).

Sexual Behavior

The bird attains sexual maturity at 1-3 years, but the age gap in larger populations is closer (2-3 years). A pair of peregrines usually mate throughout their life cycle, and they return to their nest every year.

Breeding

The peregrines are very territorial during the breeding season. They nest in pairs at distances more than a kilometer apart and in areas with large populations of nesting pairs.

The purpose of this distancing is to ensure enough supply of food for each pair and their offspring. A nesting pair might have several nests in a particular territory, and the number of nests in use varies between 1-7 for 16 years.

Peregrines and Humans

Humans highly love this bird, and it has been utilized in falconry for a time length spanning more than three millenniums.  It began with the nomads in Central Asia.

The peregrine falcon also has the additional strong point of an innate flight style, which involves circling above the falconer, waiting for a game to be released, and then executing the high-speed hunting dive that effectively takes out the prey.

The dive speed allows the bird to catch up with fast-flying birds. This also boosts the ability of the falcon to execute skillful maneuvers to catch prey of high agility.

This speed also enables the falcon to hand out a blow that knocks out with its paw clenched like fists against prey much bigger than itself.

Moreover, the bird’s adaptability allows it to hunt prey of different sizes and speeds successfully. It uses agility to capture smaller birds.

For bigger prey, it uses its strength and an attacking style, plus the fact that the many subspecies of the peregrines have a broad size range.

This bird handled by a falconer has indispensable uses, such as being a biological weapon or a threat being utilized to scare away birds lurking around airports.

This has reduced the rate of bird-plane strikes and has improved the safety of traffic in the air. They were also very useful during wartime periods, especially World War II, when they were used to intercept homing pigeons.