Peregrine Falcons : Fastest birds on the planet. Get to know everything about them

Most of the birds we see in our daily are already fast enough the quickly disappear from our field of view. But how much speed a bird or a specie of birds can attain. Today we are going to learn about a particular bird, not only belonging to the species of fastest birds on the planet but is also the fastest among all the birds on the planet. These birds are known as the "Peregrine Falcons" which belongs from the 40 known species of Falcons distributed and found around the world. We are going to learn everything we can about them including the answer of what makes them the fastest birds in the world. let's go.

Falco peregrinus (Peregrine Falcons)

General Info

Peregrine Falcons are large-sized birds of prey (raptors) and can be found on almost any part of the planet except the Antarctica continent. They are typically known for their speed which excels every other speed of the birds on the planet. There are 19 known sub-species of Peregrine Falcons. Among them, the most common sub-species are the "Peale's Falcon" and the "Shaheen Falcon".

Shaheen falcon (Left) and Peale's Falcon (Right)

The exact population of theirs is not known, although they seem to be quite common and more than enough in numbers as they are on the spot of the "Least Concerned (LC)" of the IUCN red list. Also, their average lifespan is around 13 to 17 years in the wild, but they can also live up to 20 years in captivity.

Physical Characteristics

The Peregrine falcons are large crow-sized birds with aerodynamic body structure which helps them to fly smoothly with a very fast pace. They have long pointed wings. Their wingspan is around 2.42 to 3.93 feet (0.74 to 1.2 meters). They have black-hooded like head with blue-black back body parts and creamy-white chin, throat and belly parts. Some other subspecies also have blue-gray wings, brown back and brown dots on their belly to chest area with black tear strip on their cheeks.

Their body length is from 1.11 to 1.90 feet (0.34 to 0.58 meters) and their can anywhere from 0.72 to 2.2 pounds (0.33 to 1 Kg) for males and 1.54 to 3.30 pounds (0.7 to 1.5 Kg) for females as these birds shows the factor of sexual dimorphism with the females being 30% - 50% bigger and heavier than the males (depending on the subspecies). They have strong talons and hooked beak with the beak and legs being yellowish in color.

Behavior and Lifestyle

Peregrine falcons, specially in the wild, are very aggressive and territorial. They do not tolerate intruders in their area and shows tendency to attack as soon as they notices them, including human beings. They prefer wide open areas to live and coastal area as their hunting grounds. Most of the sub-species of peregrine falcons are solitary as most of them are non-migratory birds. Other sub-species which migrate, only live with their partner for 4 to 5 months. The rest of the 7-8 months, they prefer to live alone like their migratory counterparts.

Peregrine falcons mostly hunt during the morning or the evening time. They search for their prey at a considerably great height from the ground in an open area so that they can locate their target easily and attack with their maximum speed at the same time. They usually dive to their prey with their clenched feet and talons and strike the prey and attempts to kill it in one shot, however if they miss or the prey didn't die in the first time, they chase them down and attack again and grab them in mid-air. If the prey becomes too heavy for them to carry, they drop the carcass on the ground and eat them their. 

As for their diet, they mostly hunt down medium-sized birds like pigeons, waterfowls, waders, songbirds, doves etc. Although they can also eat variety of other birds or some small mammals, reptiles or event insects.  They are sometimes hunted down by some other big like big hawks (like Gyrfalcons), eagles or some big owls (like the great-horned owls.).

Biological features

Sexual Dimorphism 

Peregrine Falcons show the factor of sexual dimorphism with the females being 30% - 50% bigger and heavier than the males (depending on the subspecies). 

Diseases 

Peregrine Falcons are often observed and studied to carry various pesticides and pathogens on them which can lead to various fungal and bacterial infections.

FAQ

What is the maximum speed of Peregrine Falcons ever recorded ?

The maximum speed of the peregrine falcons were recorded at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and at Oxford University in 2018 using 3D computer simulations. The speed recorded was almost 242 miles per hour (389.46 Km/h, to be precise).

What makes them the fastest birds on the planet ?

First, the most important factor is their highly aerodynamic body structure. Second factor is the their light weight body and the last factor is their robust or strong respiratory system. All of these factors combined leads their body to attain greater speeds as compared to any other animal. 

Reproduction

Both males and females peregrine falcons reach the stage of sexual maturity at the age of 1 to 3 years (depending on the sub-specie). The mating/breeding season for peregrine falcons starts from the month of March or April. During this period, both males and females become actively more territorial. The males try to attracts the females by using various acrobatic moves like spinning, diving, spiral rolls and flying upside down. The couples mate for life and do not show any tendency to mate with other males or females.

For laying of eggs, the females choose the nest of their choice, which is commonly on cliff edges, scrapes or on the ground. The couples defend the nest from the predators like other peregrine falcons, owls, foxes, wolves, wolverines etc. The time of laying eggs generally depends upon the region on where they are currently at.  For the Northern Hemispherical region, the eggs are laid in the month of February to March whereas in the Southern Hemispherical region it is around the months of July to August. However, some sub-species also lay eggs in the month from the month of July to December. 

The female lays anywhere from 1 to 5 eggs which are hatched after the incubation period of 29 to 33 days, assisted by both the female and the male. During this time, the male and female peregrine falcons actively hunt in order to feed their babies as the babies remain completely dependent on their parents at least for the next 2 months.

Facts and Summary 

• Peregrine Falcons are large-sized carnivorous birds or birds of prey (raptors) and are considered to be the fastest flying bird on the planet.

• Not only they are the fastest among all the birds but also one of the fastest in the animal kingdom (or sometimes said "the fastest" animal).

• The maximum speed ever recorded was around 242 miles per hour (389.46 Km/h, to be precise).

• They can be found on almost any part of the planet except the Antarctica continent.

• There are 19 known Sub-species of the Peregrine Falcons.

• Their average lifespan is around 13 to 17 years in the wild, but they can also live up to 20 years in captivity.

• Peregrine Falcons show the factor of sexual dimorphism with the females being 30% - 50% bigger and heavier than the males (depending on the subspecies).

• Peregrine Falcons are often observed and studied to carry various pesticides and pathogens on them which can lead to various fungal and bacterial infections.

• They prey on variety of birds. It is estimated that they have preyed on 1,500 to 2,000 species of birds distributed around the globe.

• The males and female peregrine falcons mate for life.

• Males do acrobatic stunts and tricks to attract females during the mating season.

• The male peregrine falcons are referred as "Tiercel" while the females are referred simply as "Falcons".

• They babies of peregrine falcons are referred as ''Eyases".

• Back from the middles ages, Peregrine falcons were used by human for hunting.

• Their vision is 8 times better than that of human beings.

• Some of them almost become extinct in American continents and were became protected species, but later on their population gradually recovered.

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