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© J. Kaczanow |
Peregrine Falcon: probably the fastest animal in the world, living right on your doorstep! (As seen on the BBC's Britain goes Wild programme with Bill Oddie, Simon King and Kate Humble in June 04) Initial Data: Awesome aerial hunter, diving at speeds of up to 180 mph! Superbly handsome bird of prey Large ladies – they are one third larger than the men! |
Sources of Info: Live webcam of peregrine eyrie (in breeding season) Lots of pictures, information, links and great games. Lots of information on Raptors. |
© J. Kaczanow |
Description: The Peregrine's face has an obvious dark moustache with white cheeks and chin, a variable light to dark grey plumage on top and buff colour beneath. Body length is up to 50cm and a wingspan up to 120cm, the females being larger than the males. Look out for their distinct anchor shape when in flight due to their long wings and short tail. Food and Hunting: Eats mainly birds, including pigeons. It can spot prey from a height of 300 meters. When a victim is spotted, the hunter suddenly snaps back its wings and plunges down in a dramatic 'stoop'. It can reach speeds of up to 180mph !! If the attack is successful, the blow from the Peregrine's sharp talons breaks the neck or back of the flying prey upon impact. |
For more information on the Britain goes Wild with Bill Oddie programmes and the ‘make space for nature' campaign. Lots of information on birds and where to see them. |
Breeding: Peregrine falcons pair for life and usually build their eyrie (nest) on a high, inaccessible cliff or crag. They return to the same eyrie each year. The nest itself is usually just a simple scrape and the ledge wide enough to take up to four young. The peregrines' courtship involves some impressive aerial acrobatics. The tiercel (the male, so-called because it is a tierce, one third, smaller in size than the female) 'loops the loop' after making a mock dive at the female. He also passes food to the female, often while in flight. To allow him to pass a 'gift bird' in mid-air, the female rolls over while flying to take the food from his talons. Females lay two to five eggs in the "scrape" or nesting site, the eggs are incubated for 4 to 5 weeks, mainly by the female, while the male hunts for food. The young are able to fly at about 35-40 days after hatching, but remain dependent on the adults for several weeks after they leave the nest, learning how to dive and catch their prey on the wing. The young birds may stay together for a short time after they become independent of the adults, but they will not normally have any further contact with their parents for the rest of their lives. Peregrines rarely breed before three years of age. The average life span is 13 to 17 years but individuals have been known to live longer. |
All figures taken from the ‘Report of the UK Raptor Working Group' (2000) | |
Under threat: During the Second World War the killing of Peregrines was encouraged to protect carrier pigeons that carried messages to and from the front line, and then the species became all but extinct due to pesticide use during the 50's and 60's. Since then the population has been increasing but is still small and very vulnerable. Distribution: They are mainly found in the South of England, Scotland and Ireland . Worldwide, despite being rare they are exceptionally widespread found on every continent except Antarctica . |
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Habitat: They favour open moorland and coastal cliffs, and are occasionally seen around estuaries during winter months. In 2002 1492 breeding pairs lived in the UK , 87 of these were found to have territories in Devon and Cornwall . However the location of many of these nests remains a secret in order to further protect the birds from illegal persecution. Despite the increase in the population from critical levels, history shows us that these birds are very susceptible to human pressures, and individuals including egg collectors and people who feel that the peregrines interfere with their own livelihoods or pastimes, and it is for this reason that they remain legally protected and carefully monitored. |
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Seeing the Peregrine Falcon: Your best chance to catch a glimpse of this awesome hunter in action is to take a quiet walk around Hope's Nose, in Torquay. Alternatively you can visit the ‘famous' peregrines at Cann Quarry, Plym Bridge , in person or on the World Wide Web. Note: Peregrines only take a very small number (3.5%) of the UK racing pigeon population annually – this is compared to overall losses of about 52% due to a whole range of other causes (taken from the above report) – so the perception that peregrines are causing major problems for pigeon owners is totally over exaggerated, they deserve a fair hearing. |
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