Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
BirdRaptorFalcon
A male peregrine falcon on open ground in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India.
Image: Sumeet Moghe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Overview
The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a sturdy, crow-sized falcon found on every continent except Antarctica, one of the most widespread land vertebrates. It hunts mainly birds, typically catching them in the air after a fast dive, or stoop, or a chase.
Adults are blue-gray to slate above, with a dark crown or hood, a blackish stripe below each eye, a white throat and pale underparts barred with dark; juveniles tend to be darker and browner and are streaked rather than barred below. Females are larger and heavier than males, normally with no overlap in size within a subspecies, and the many subspecies vary considerably in size and color. The hooked bill has a notch, or 'tooth', that aids in severing the spinal cord of bird prey.
One account gives North American peregrines lengths of 36–49 cm for males and 45–58 cm for females, with a wingspan of 91–112 cm, and a Canadian account, naming no region, gives females 45–59 cm; other accounts give overall lengths of 36–49 cm or 33–50 cm and wingspans of 80–114 cm or 78–122 cm. The Canadian account gives adult females about 910 g and males about 570 g.
Habitat & Range
Peregrines live mainly in open country — tundra, grasslands, meadows, deserts, seashores, wetlands and mountains — where there are good nest sites, usually high cliffs, and they are often near water, especially along coasts. They are most common in tundra and coastal areas and have been seen breeding as high as 3,600 m in the Rocky Mountains. Accounts disagree on rainforests: one says peregrines are absent from them and rare in subtropical and tropical habitats, while another says they have been documented living in wet tropical rainforests.
Limited by nest sites and prey, peregrines often move into cities, nesting on tall buildings and bridges and feeding on pigeons. In North America they rarely nest on flat ground or in trees, sites that are more common elsewhere in their range. Nesting populations reach from the Arctic south to Tasmania, South Africa and the Falkland Islands, and accounts disagree on whether the range includes New Zealand.
Diet
The peregrine falcon eats almost entirely birds — 77 to 99% of prey items in one account — as small as songbirds and as large as loons, geese and large gulls, including pigeons, shorebirds and waterfowl; it also takes some bats and other small mammals, occasionally reptiles or insects, and rarely carrion. It spots prey from a perch or in flight, often flies high and then stoops to strike prey out of the air, knocking it from the sky and stunning it, and it also chases prey in level flight. In the breeding season, pairs sometimes hunt together.
Reported top stoop speeds differ: over 180 mph clocked and up to 200 mph believed possible in one account, over 200 mph clocked by biologists in another, up to 300 km/h in a third and over 300 km per hour in a fourth, none with a stated method. A peer-reviewed modeling study notes that, to date, no peer-reviewed article includes measures of the peak performance of falcons in a stoop.
Behavior
Peregrines are monogamous, and pair bonds often last over many breeding seasons; accounts say pairs may, usually or do mate for life, though one suggests that strong attachment to previous nest sites, rather than to each other, may explain it. Breeding pairs defend the immediate nest area while hunting over a much larger one, and nesting pairs are usually more than 1 km apart. Outside the breeding season birds are mainly solitary and still defend territories.
Some populations migrate long distances while others are resident. The northernmost breeders, on the tundra of Alaska and Canada, migrate long distances, many to South America and, by one account, as far as central Argentina and Chile; migrants often follow coasts and fly well out at sea, as much as 500 km a day, and most Arctic nesters apparently 'leapfrog' more southern North American falcons to winter farther south. Satellite-tracked birds have also wintered in Central America, and one covered over 14,500 km between there and the Canadian Arctic. Most southern Palearctic and island populations are resident, birds near the equator tend not to migrate, and in Australia adults are thought to be relatively sedentary, while juveniles disperse — the longest recorded move being 333 km.
Human Interaction & Conservation
Organochlorine pesticides such as DDT made eggshells thinner and more likely to break, and from about 1945 many populations declined, especially in Europe and North America; the most heavily contaminated birds, nesting east of the Mississippi River and in eastern Canada south of the boreal forest, were essentially extirpated by the mid-1960s. Restrictions on pesticide use — the United States banned DDT in 1972 — and the release of captive-bred birds brought a recovery.
In 1999 the American subspecies was removed from the US federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife, without affecting its protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, CITES and state laws. In the UK, where numbers fell below half the pre-war level in the 1960s, the population has largely recovered from the poisonous effects of organochlorine pesticides, but illegal persecution still limits numbers in the uplands. Falconers have favored the species for over three thousand years. IUCN's global assessment lists the peregrine falcon as Least Concern (2021).
Reproduction & Life Cycle
The eggs are laid one every second day in a bare scrape on a cliff ledge, sometimes in other birds' old nests or on buildings and bridges, and both sexes incubate, the female more. In UK nest records pairs typically raise one brood a year, the typical clutch is 3–4 eggs, incubated for 30–32 days, and the young fledge at 39–40 days. Other accounts give clutch ranges of 2–5, 2–6 or two to four eggs and typical clutches of three or four or usually three, with incubation of 29–32 days, about 32 days or 30 days, or hatching in 33–35 days.
UK first clutches are laid on average on 6 April, while a Canadian account gives laying in early to mid-May and an Australian one a breeding season of August to December. Re-nesting after a lost clutch is rare in the Arctic, owing to the short summer, but common farther south. Sexual maturity comes at about two years by one account, while another says it typically takes 3 years for young birds to reach adulthood and breed.
One account says most peregrines do not live to be 1 year old, and that healthy falcons that survive their first year live an average of 13 years; in UK ringing data, birds that reach breeding age have a typical life expectancy of 7 years. The oldest UK-ringed bird lived 21 years, 10 months and 24 days, and the longest known captive lifespan is 25 years.
Sourced facts
Each value below is traced to the specific reference that states it. Open a row's evidence to see the source, where to look in it, and how firmly it supports the value. Sources checked 2026-10-20.
| Fact | What the source states | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Distinguishing traits | A sturdy, crow-sized falcon with long, tapered wings. Adults are blue-gray to slate above, with a dark crown or hood and a blackish stripe below each eye, a white throat and pale underparts barred dark. Juveniles tend to be darker and browner, streaked rather than barred below.Females are larger and heavier than males, normally with no size overlap within a subspecies, and are on average more heavily marked below. Plumage does not vary with the seasons beyond fading as feathers wear. Subspecies vary considerably in size and color; Arctic birds are paler. The hooked bill has a notch or 'tooth' that aids in severing the spinal cord of bird prey. | Matches source · Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Missouri Department of Conservation, Australian Museum, Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, National Audubon Society — how we knowHinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Missouri Department of Conservation
Australian Museum
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
National Audubon Society
|
| Geographic range | Native on every continent except Antarctica and one of the most widespread land vertebrates, with nesting populations from the Arctic south to Tasmania, South Africa and the Falkland Islands. Accounts disagree on whether the range includes New Zealand.sources disagreeDescribed as having the broadest natural breeding distribution of any landbird. Native status rests on one account's biogeographic tags, which mark the Nearctic, Palearctic, Oriental, Ethiopian, Neotropical and Australian regions as native range. | Sources disagree · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, The Peregrine Fund, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), Australian Museum — how we knowWhat each reading says
One account lists New Zealand, with Antarctica and Iceland, as places where the peregrine is not found, while another places it in parts of New Zealand. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
The Peregrine Fund
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
Australian Museum
|
| Habitat | Mainly open country—tundra, grasslands, meadows, deserts, seashores, wetlands and mountains—with good nest sites, usually high cliffs; often near water, especially coasts. Increasingly lives in cities, nesting on tall buildings and bridges. Accounts disagree on rainforest use.sources disagreeMost common in tundra and coastal areas. Observed breeding as high as 3600 meters in the Rocky Mountains of North America. In North America it rarely nests on flat ground or in trees, sites that are more common elsewhere in its range. Limited by nest sites and prey, it often moves into cities, where it nests on building ledges and feeds on pigeons. | Sources disagree · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, The Peregrine Fund, National Audubon Society, Australian Museum, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation) — how we knowWhat each reading says
One account says peregrines are found worldwide except in rainforests and cold, dry Arctic regions, and are rare in sub-tropical and tropical habitats, while another says they have been documented living in wet tropical rainforests. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
The Peregrine Fund
National Audubon Society
Australian Museum
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
|
| Diet | Almost entirely birds, as small as songbirds and as large as loons, geese and large gulls, including pigeons, shorebirds and waterfowl; also some bats and other small mammals, occasionally reptiles or insects, rarely carrion. Prey is typically caught in the air after a fast dive (stoop) or a chase.sources disagreeBirds make up 77 to 99% of prey items in one account. It spots prey from a perch or in flight, often flies high and stoops to strike prey out of the air, knocking it from the sky and stunning it, and also chases prey in level flight. A peer-reviewed study says that, to date, no peer-reviewed article has measured peak stoop speed; the other speed figures give no method. | Sources disagree · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, National Audubon Society, The Peregrine Fund, Australian Museum, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), PLOS Computational Biology (Mills, Hildenbrandt, Taylor & Hemelrijk 2018; University of Groningen and University of Oxford) — how we knowWhat each reading says
Reported top stoop speeds disagree: clocked at over 180 mph and believed able to reach up to 200 mph in one account, clocked by biologists at over 200 mph in another, up to 300 km/h in a third and over 300 km per hour in a fourth. A peer-reviewed modeling study cites 108 m/s from an unpublished study and says no peer-reviewed article includes measures of peak stoop performance. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
National Audubon Society
The Peregrine Fund
Australian Museum
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
PLOS Computational Biology (Mills, Hildenbrandt, Taylor & Hemelrijk 2018; University of Groningen and University of Oxford)
|
| Body size | One account gives North American lengths of 36–49 cm for males and 45–58 cm for females and a wingspan of 91–112 cm; a Canadian account, naming no region, gives females 45–59 cm. Other accounts give overall lengths of 36–49 cm or 33–50 cm and wingspans of 80–114 cm or 78–122 cm.sources disagreeFemales are typically 15–20% larger than males. The 36–49 cm and 80–114 cm figures come from a North American field guide that does not separate the sexes; the 33–50 cm and 78–122 cm figures state no region or sex. | Sources disagree · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), National Audubon Society, The Peregrine Fund — how we knowWhat each reading says
Accounts disagree on adult length and wingspan: a field guide gives a length of 36–49 cm without separating the sexes, while others give females 45–58 cm or 45–59 cm; wingspans of 91–112 cm, 80–114 cm and 78–122 cm are given by different accounts, and one gives an overall length of 33–50 cm. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
National Audubon Society
The Peregrine Fund
|
| Body mass | Females about 910 g and males about 570 g. Ranges that do not separate the sexes are given as 11.6 oz–3 lb 5 oz in a North American field guide and 0.4–1.5 kg in another account.sources disagreeThe sexed figures are for adults in a Canadian national account. The field guide's metric equivalent is printed as '330-1.5 kg'. | Sources disagree · Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), National Audubon Society, The Peregrine Fund — how we knowWhat each reading says
The two overall ranges differ at the lower end: 11.6 oz (printed in metric as 330) in a North American field guide versus 1 pound (0.4 kg) in another account. Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
National Audubon Society
The Peregrine Fund
|
| Lifespan | Wild: typical life expectancy 7 years for birds reaching breeding age in UK ringing data, against an average of 13 years for healthy falcons that survive their first year in another account; oldest UK-ringed bird 21 years, 10 months, 24 days. Captivity: up to 25 years.sources disagreeIn the UK data, breeding typically starts at 2 years and the ringing record was set in 2016. The second account says most peregrines do not live to be 1 year old and puts maximum longevity of wild birds at 16 to 20 years; a third says some peregrines have lived 18 to 20 years but the average life span is much shorter. | Sources disagree · British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation) — how we knowWhat each reading says
For wild birds past early mortality, UK ringing data give a typical life expectancy of 7 years for birds reaching breeding age, while another account gives an average of 13 years for healthy falcons that survive their first year; that account's maximum for wild birds, 16 to 20 years, is also below the UK ringing record of 21 years, 10 months and 24 days. British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
|
| Social structure | Monogamous; pair bonds often last over many breeding seasons, and pairs may mate for life. Breeding pairs are territorial, defending the immediate nest area while hunting over a much larger one; outside the breeding season birds are mainly solitary and still defend territories.Accounts say pairs may, usually or do mate for life; one suggests that strong attachment to previous nest sites, rather than to each other, may explain monogamy over several seasons. Nesting pairs are usually more than 1 km apart, often much farther. In the breeding season pairs sometimes hunt together, one bird (usually the male) flushing a flock while the other stoops to catch a bird. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, National Audubon Society, Missouri Department of Conservation, Australian Museum, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), The Peregrine Fund — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
National Audubon Society
Missouri Department of Conservation
Australian Museum
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
The Peregrine Fund
|
| Reproduction | Eggs are laid in a bare scrape on a cliff ledge or sometimes in other birds' old nests or on buildings and bridges; both sexes incubate, the female more. UK nest records: typically one brood a year, clutch 3–4 eggs, incubation 30–32 days, fledging 39–40 days; other accounts differ.sources disagreeUK first clutches average 6 April; a Canadian account gives laying in early to mid-May and an Australian one a breeding season of August to December. Eggs are laid every second day. Sexual maturity comes at about two years in one account; another says breeding typically starts at 3 years. Re-nesting after a lost clutch is rare in the Arctic, owing to the short summer, but common farther south. | Sources disagree · British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), National Audubon Society, Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), Australian Museum — how we knowWhat each reading says
Clutch size, incubation length and age at first breeding differ. Clutches range from 2–5 eggs in UK nest records and a North American field guide, 2 to 6 in another account and two to four in an Australian factsheet; typical clutches are 3–4 eggs in the UK records, three or four in a Canadian account and usually three in the Australian factsheet. Incubation is typically 30–32 days in the UK records, 29–32 days in the field guide, about 32 days in the Canadian account and 30 days in the Australian factsheet, while another account gives hatching in 33 to 35 days. Maturity is put at about two years in one account and 3 years in another. British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)
National Audubon Society
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
Australian Museum
|
| Movement | Some populations migrate long distances; others are resident. The northernmost breeders, on the tundra of Alaska and Canada, migrate long distances, many to South America and, by one account, as far as central Argentina and Chile. Most southern Palearctic and island populations are resident.Birds near the equator tend not to migrate. Migrants often follow coasts and occur well out at sea, flying as much as 500 km per day; most Arctic nesters apparently 'leapfrog' more southern North American falcons to winter farther south. Satellite-tracked birds have wintered in Central America, and one covered over 14,500 km between Central America and the Canadian Arctic. Australian adults are thought relatively sedentary; juveniles disperse, the longest recorded move being 333 km. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, National Audubon Society, The Peregrine Fund, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), Australian Museum — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
National Audubon Society
The Peregrine Fund
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
Australian Museum
|
| Human interaction | Organochlorine pesticides like DDT thinned eggshells, making them more likely to break. Many populations declined from about 1945, especially in Europe and North America. Pesticide curbs and release of captive-bred birds brought recovery.The most heavily contaminated birds, nesting east of the Mississippi River and in eastern Canada south of the boreal forest, were essentially extirpated by the mid-1960s. The US banned DDT in 1972. In 1999 the American subspecies left the US federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife; protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, CITES and state laws was unaffected. UK numbers, below half the pre-war level in the 1960s, have largely recovered from the poisonous effects of organochlorine pesticides, but illegal persecution still limits upland birds. Falconers have favored it for over three thousand years. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, final delisting rule (Federal Register, 25 August 1999), via govinfo.gov, The Peregrine Fund, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Hinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, final delisting rule (Federal Register, 25 August 1999), via govinfo.gov
The Peregrine Fund
British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)
|
| Conservation status | Least Concern (LC), global assessment, 2021 | Matches source · IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — how we knowIUCN Red List of Threatened Species
|
References for the facts above
- UniversityAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologySupports: identification, range (biogeographic tags), habitat (incl. rainforest reading), diet and stoop-speed reading, body size, social structure, reproduction, lifespan, movement, pesticide decline and recovery. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Account by Tanya Dewey and Mark Potter, last updated 2002-02-04, citing mainly the 2002 Birds of North America account. Length figures are explicitly for North America. Not used: unsexed average masses (907 g; 840 g from AnAge), the 40-50% heavier ratio, survival rates (40% first year, 70% adults), home ranges, the 'endangered species list since 1969' date and the Michigan state listing.
- Wildlife referenceBritish Trust for Ornithology (BTO)Supports: lifespan (UK ringing data), reproduction (UK nest records), UK recovery from organochlorine pesticides and continuing upland persecution. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: BirdFacts profile for Britain and Ireland; biology figures come from BTO ringing and nest-recording data. The biometrics table is empty on the page, leaving only an unsexed key-stat weight of 889.3 g, which was not used. Fetched at its current address; the /understanding-birds/birdfacts/peregrine path redirects here.
- Wildlife referenceThe Peregrine FundSupports: range, habitat, diet, stoop-speed reading, body-size and weight readings, cooperative hunting, movement near the equator, DDT ban, captive breeding and release, 1999 delisting. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Educational species page of a raptor-conservation organization that ran the U.S. captive-breeding program. Size and weight figures give no region or sex. The 200 mph figure is attributed to biologists without a method. It says 'the Peregrine Falcon' was removed from the U.S. list in 1999; the federal rule concerns the American subspecies. Its count of released birds (more than 4,000) and Arctic-to-Antarctica migration figures were not used.
- GovernmentU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceSupports: identification (plumage, sexual size difference, no seasonal plumage change). Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Species profile whose overview text cites All About Birds (2015) and the Birds of North America account (2002); it gives no figures.
- GovernmentU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, final delisting rule (Federal Register, 25 August 1999), via govinfo.govSupports: human interaction: regional extirpation by the mid-1960s, removal of the American subspecies from the federal list, protections that continued. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Legal rule about the American peregrine falcon (F. p. anatum) in North America. Its unsexed description (approximately 1,000 grams; wing span 112 centimeters) was not used. The same rule on fws.gov returned HTTP 503.
- Wildlife referenceNational Audubon SocietySupports: identification, habitat, diet and hunting, body-size and weight readings, social structure, reproduction readings, movement. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: North American field guide; text adapted from Kenn Kaufman's Lives of North American Birds (1996). The metric weight is printed as '330-1.5 kg'. Its dive figures ('may possibly reach 200 mph'; 'well over 100 mph') were not used as readings.
- UniversityAustralian MuseumSupports: identification, range (incl. New Zealand reading), habitat (incl. rainforest reading), diet and stoop-speed reading, social structure, reproduction (Australian figures), movement in Australia and satellite tracking. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Factsheet updated 24/08/26, written from an Australian perspective and drawing on BirdLife Australia and Birds of the World. 'Size Range 38 cm to 48 cm' does not name the measure (not used). Its hobby comparison calls adult peregrine upperparts 'cream to buff', contradicting its own identification text (not used). The year-round home territory of 20 to 30 square kilometres was not used.
- GovernmentHinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation)Supports: identification, sexed length and weight, lifespan note, nest sites, range (incl. New Zealand reading), stoop-speed reading, social structure, reproduction, movement, decline, falconry. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Canadian Wildlife Service text by Don Blood, revised by U. Banasch (2001, 2006); North American population counts are dated and were not used, nor were its 1969 date for Canadian DDT restrictions (the federal rule gives a 1970 ban), the share of pigeons in city diets or its 22-subspecies count. Requested at /en/wildlife/birds/peregrine-falcon.html, which redirects here.
- GovernmentMissouri Department of ConservationSupports: identification (adult plumage), pair bonds. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: State field guide (reviewed 2024-01-19) with a Missouri focus. Its sizes are in inches only (length 15-21 inches, wingspan 38-45 inches) and were not used; its breeding figures (3-4 eggs, 29-32 days, 35-42 days) agree with other readings and were not cited.
- ReferencePLOS Computational Biology (Mills, Hildenbrandt, Taylor & Hemelrijk 2018; University of Groningen and University of Oxford)Supports: diet: status of stoop-speed measurements. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Peer-reviewed modeling study published 12 April 2018; used only for its statement on empirical stoop-speed data. Its own simulated speeds (terminal speed 122-123 m/s) are model outputs and were not used.
- ReferenceIUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesSupports: The global Red List category and the year of the assessment. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Read from the Red List export IUCN publishes to GBIF; iucnredlist.org itself does not answer automated reads. Categories are reassessed over time.
Frequently Asked Questions — Peregrine Falcon
How fast does a peregrine falcon dive?
Accounts give top stoop speeds of over 180 mph, over 200 mph, up to 300 km/h or over 300 km per hour, none with a stated method, and a peer-reviewed study notes that no peer-reviewed article has yet measured a falcon's peak stoop performance.
What does a peregrine falcon eat?
Almost entirely birds, as small as songbirds and as large as loons, geese and large gulls, usually caught in the air. It also takes some bats and other small mammals.
Why did peregrine falcons decline?
Organochlorine pesticides such as DDT made eggshells thinner and more likely to break, and from about 1945 many populations declined; the most heavily contaminated birds, nesting east of the Mississippi River and in eastern Canada south of the boreal forest, were essentially extirpated by the mid-1960s. Pesticide restrictions and releases of captive-bred birds brought a recovery, and the UK population has largely recovered from the poisonous effects of these pesticides.
Do peregrine falcons live in cities?
Yes. Limited by nest sites and prey, they often move into cities, where they nest on tall buildings and bridges and feed on pigeons.
Sources and further reading
Authoritative wildlife references used for general educational context. Conservation status should always be verified against current IUCN Red List data. External links open in a new tab.
- UniversityAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology — Falco peregrinus (peregrine falcon) species account — identification, range (biogeographic tags), habitat (incl. rainforest reading), diet and stoop-speed reading, body size, social structure, reproduction, lifespan, movement, pesticide decline and recovery
- Wildlife referenceBritish Trust for Ornithology (BTO) — Peregrine, BirdFacts (BTO) — lifespan (UK ringing data), reproduction (UK nest records), UK recovery from organochlorine pesticides and continuing upland persecution
- Wildlife referenceThe Peregrine Fund — Peregrine falcon (The Peregrine Fund) — range, habitat, diet, stoop-speed reading, body-size and weight readings, cooperative hunting, movement near the equator, DDT ban, captive breeding and release, 1999 delisting
- GovernmentU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Peregrine falcon species profile (USFWS) — identification (plumage, sexual size difference, no seasonal plumage change)
- GovernmentU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, final delisting rule (Federal Register, 25 August 1999), via govinfo.gov — Final rule removing the American peregrine falcon from the endangered list (Federal Register, 1999) — human interaction: regional extirpation by the mid-1960s, removal of the American subspecies from the federal list, protections that continued
- Wildlife referenceNational Audubon Society — Peregrine falcon, Guide to North American Birds (Audubon) — identification, habitat, diet and hunting, body-size and weight readings, social structure, reproduction readings, movement
- UniversityAustralian Museum — Peregrine falcon (Australian Museum) — identification, range (incl. New Zealand reading), habitat (incl. rainforest reading), diet and stoop-speed reading, social structure, reproduction (Australian figures), movement in Australia and satellite tracking
- GovernmentHinterland Who's Who (Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation) — Peregrine falcon (Hinterland Who's Who) — identification, sexed length and weight, lifespan note, nest sites, range (incl. New Zealand reading), stoop-speed reading, social structure, reproduction, movement, decline, falconry
- GovernmentMissouri Department of Conservation — Peregrine falcon, Missouri field guide — identification (adult plumage), pair bonds
- ReferencePLOS Computational Biology (Mills, Hildenbrandt, Taylor & Hemelrijk 2018; University of Groningen and University of Oxford) — Mills et al. 2018, a model of the falcon stoop — diet: status of stoop-speed measurements
- ReferenceIUCN Red List — Falco peregrinus assessment — The global Red List category and the year of the assessment