Peregrine FalconConnor Ensign

Falco Peregrinus

WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW?

CLASSIFICATIONKINGDOM ANIMALIA

PHYLUM CHORDATE

CLASS

AVES

ORDER

FALCONIFORMES

FAMILY FALCONIDAE

GENUS

FALCO

SPECIES

FALCO PEREGRINUS

SIMILAR SPECIESGYRFALCON PRARIE

FALCONMERLIN FALCON

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 32-60 cm. 500-1,500 grams Female is 20% larger than male Adults-slate dark blue-gray wings and backs barred with black, pale undersides, white faces with a black tear drop on each cheek, and large, dark eyes. Wingspan = 39.4-43.3 in.

Juvenile- heavily marked, with vertical streaks. Grey/Blue legs and feet

Which Peregrine Falcon is Male/Female?

PREDATORSGYRFALCON

EAGLES

GREAT HORNED OWL

HUMANS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Least Concern

BEHAIVIORMATING SEASON

Late March through May 2-5 Eggs 29-32 days of incubation

Both Male and Female incubate the eggs

At about 42 days, chicks start to fly

The Peregrine Falcon is very territorial when it comes there chicks

LONGEVITY Captivity 20-23

yrs.Wild 15-18

yrs.

HIBERNATION

TORPOR

DIETARY HABITS Peregrine Falcon has been recorded to catch and eat about 2,000 different kinds of bird species, around the world. Shorebirds, ptarmigan, ducks, grebes, gulls, storm-petrels, pigeons, and songbirds including jays, thrushes, longspurs, buntings, larks, waxwings, and starlings. Peregrine Falcons also eat substantial numbers of bats. Sometimes they even, “Pirate Prey”.

KILLING This bird circles its prey from high elevations,

then the bird dives at an approximate 200 + MPH. With its mighty talons it hits the bird, which stuns it and with that the Peregrine falcon retrieves its prize. Right before the Peregrine Falcon hits the ground it pulls up its wings and withstands more G’s than any human can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKqt05iR9WI

Its hind talon used to hit the bird is called the Hallux.

HABITAT In North America they breed in open landscapes with cliffs (or skyscrapers). In other parts of the world they nest in tree’s, telephone poles, and in caves or indents in cliff’s. They have even been seen nesting at elevations of 12,000 ft.

DISTRIBUTION

Native:Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Andorra; Angola (Angola); Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia (Armenia); Aruba; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belarus; Belgium; Belize; Benin; Bermuda; Bhutan; Bolivia, Plurinational States of; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; China; Colombia; Comoros; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cuba; Curaçao; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Fiji; Finland; France; French Guiana; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong; Hungary; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Latvia; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macao; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Mali; Malta; Martinique; Mauritania; Mayotte; Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States of; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Montserrat; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nepal; Netherlands; New Caledonia; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Romania; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia (Serbia); Sierra Leone; Singapore; Sint Maarten (Dutch part); Slovakia; Slovenia; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; South Sudan; Spain (Canary Is.); Spain (Canary Is.); Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Swaziland; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tajikistan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago;Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Turks and Caicos Islands; Uganda; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; United States Minor Outlying Islands; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Western Sahara; Yemen; Zambia; ZimbabweVagrant:Burundi; Christmas Island; Faroe Islands; Iceland; Maldives; Mauritius; Samoa; Seychelles222 COUNTRIES

THE FALL Before World War II, the peregrine population

in the eastern United States was estimated at about 350-400 breeding pairs. Egg collectors, falconers, predators and human disturbance was a part of the decline. DDT increased and the population of Peregrines decreased. The insecticide got into there systems by eating prey that had indulged the insecticide.

FUN FACTS The Peregrine Falcon can reach up to speeds of 200 + MPH. It’s the fastest animal in the world. Other names:Duck Hawk

Faucon pèlerin (French)Halcón peregrino (Spanish)

The Peregrine Falcon’s regular flight speed is 60 MPH

Alderfer, Jonathan. Complete Birds of North America. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2006. Print.Arkive. N.p., 2003. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.arkive.org/peregrine-falcon/falco- peregrinus/>.Burger, Joanna. Birds. Ontario: Firefly Book, 2006. Print.The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/lifehistory>.Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.defenders.org/peregrine-falcon/basic-facts>.National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/peregrine-falcon/>.Ohio Department of Natural Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. <http://ohiodnr.com/wildlife/dow/falcons/facts.aspx>.The Red List. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2013. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/106003622/0>. 

WORKS CITED