Which bird can reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour? You're right; it’s the Peregrine Falcon. In Latin the species name is the Falco peregrinus the family is called Falconifdae. This bird of prey does amazingly well with humans because it is a great hunter. You can train them to hunt for Doves, Pigeons, ducks, and smaller birds. They will also eat mice ,rats and other animals that eat crops.

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These falcons have been on the endangered species list because they were preying on the animals that had been treated with pesticides. Since pesticides have changed the peregrine is no longer on the endangered species list. A falconer is a person who trains falcons to hunt for prey. He carries the bird on his arm with a gauntlet to protect him from the sharp talons. Once a dog has flushed the prey out of cover, the peregrine that has been circling above will go in to a dive reaching speeds of up to 200 miles per hour!

 

The falcon folds its wings down to gain more speed and side slams the pigeon knocking out the bird. The bird never knew what hit it. The peregrine grabs the bird with its sharp claws and then brings the prey back to the falconer. Of course in the wild, the prey would be devoured straight away.

 

The Peregrine Falcon likes to live in meadows, tundra, and grasslands. They have recently begun to colonize urban areas because tall buildings are a good place to hunt from and are suitable for nesting. There are also plenty of pigeons in cities for prey. Normal prey of the peregrine falcon are mice and rodents, other birds such as Doves, Pigeons, Ducks and other smaller birds.

 

Peregrines normally capture prey with their talons and then kill them with their razor sharp beak. Peregrines are large falcons. They are a little bit bigger than a crow. Adults are a slate gray with black heads. Infants are brown in color. Some interesting facts about this bird are that the name means “wanderer”. They nest in the artic tundra and spend the winter in South America and may move 15,000 miles a year. They have special cornea muscles in the eye that compensates for the rapidly decreasing distance, allowing the falcon to stay focused in a dive. They also have baffles in their nostrils to permit them to breath despite the rush of air when it dives.

 

Author: James T .

Date Published: April 2006

 

sources:wikipedia.com Taken on Covadonga, Asturias, Spain on October 2005 Francisco M. Marzoa Alonso

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Photo Credit: Falco peregrinus,