- Appearance: slate gray back, light yellow-white underside with stripes, yellow beak and legs, large curved claws, yellow hooked beak with black tip, gray head, yellow eye ring
- Females have similar markings to, but are larger than males
- Length: 14 to 19 inches (about 1.5 feet)
- Wingspan: 39 to 43 inches (about 3-4 feet)
- Status: seriously endangered from 1940s-70s
- DDT pesticides weakened eggshells, disappeared from much of former breeding range, but (re)introduced to areas with temperate habitats
- Habitat
- “Peregrine” means “pilgrim/wanderer” – they are found on all continents except Antarctica (regional range depends on climate)
- In North America, breed in landscapes with high cliffs, trees, even skyscrapers
- Found year-round in New England, East Coast North America, Mexico
- Found in nearly any open habitat with water source, most commonly mountain chains, coastline, forests, lake and river edges, mudflats, and barrier islands
- Can even be found in tundras and deserts
- Peregrine falcons even roost in cities, where they usually hunt pigeons
- Diet
- Also known as duck hawk, it can commonly be seen striking ducks, gulls, terns, and other shorebirds in coastal regions
- Feed on large variety of small-medium birds
- Over 450 North American birds identified as prey
- Over 2,000 birds worldwide are prey
- Over 450 North American birds identified as prey
- Occasionally eat fish, mammals (bats), insects
- Peregrine falcons can fly at altitudes of over 3,500 feet
- Scan for flying prey beneath them
- World’s fastest bird – 40-55 mph in regular flight, 70 mph when chasing prey, can exceed 200 mph while diving
- Dive (“stoop”) at a sharp angle to build speed, approach prey at downward, strike them midair
- Migration
- Has one of longest migration paths of any bird in North America – travel up to 15,500 mi/yr
- Only birds that breed in Canada and northernmost United States are migratory
- Overwintering range is from North Carolina to Texas, California, Central America, Caribbean
- Migrate alone, fly directly to destination (no stops)
- Migrate at lower altitudes than when hunting
- 300-3,000 feet high
- Nesting
- Mating season is late March through May
- Preferred nesting sites are cliffs 25-1,000+ feet high
- Nests built ⅔ way up cliff’s edge
- Also nest on high trees, electricity towers, silos, churches, skyscrapers, bridges
- May even use nests abandoned by large birds of prey such as bald eagles or ospreys
- Males select potential sites, females chooses which is best
- Male mostly hunts, female broods – eventually both parents hunt for fledglings
- Extremely territorial during breeding season – screeches at intruders, then swoops at them from overhead, has been known to brush humans with wings or hit them with backs of feet (like knuckle punch)
- Breeding pairs mate for life and return to same breeding site each year
- Average brood is 3-4 pale creamy to brown eggs, often blotched with brown, red, or even purple
- Fledglings learn to fly after about 5-7 weeks
- Parents continue to feed young until they successfully learn to hunt
- Immature peregrine falcons marked with heavy, vertical streaks on breast instead of lighter, horizontal bars of mature falcons (in some, the breast also whitens), head is also streaked with white in juveniles
- Average lifespan is 17 years, oldest peregrine falcon reached 25 years in captivity
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