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Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

Identify the Peregrine Falcon by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Peregrine Falcon is a powerful, blue-grey falcon famed for its high-speed hunting dives and bold black facial “moustache”. It is the world's most widespread raptor, found from the Arctic tundra to the tropics on every continent except Antarctica, and it readily nests on tall buildings in cities. Populations crashed because of DDT and other pesticides but have recovered widely after bans and protection.

Did you know?

  • In its hunting dive it is the fastest animal on Earth.
  • Its dark moustache helps cut glare, and it tends to be larger in sunnier regions.

Voice

Flight call

About the species

Identification

Adults are dark blue-grey above and pale below with dense barring; the head has a black hood and pale cheeks, and the cere and legs are yellow. Juveniles are dark brown above and streaked below. The wings are long, pointed and broad-based, the tail fairly short. The female is clearly larger than the male. Told from Hobby by its larger size and lack of rufous “trousers”, and from Gyrfalcon by its slimmer build and bolder dark hood.

Family

Falconidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

grey, white, black, yellow

About the habitat

Open landscapes near cliffs or high perches – sea cliffs, river gorges, mountains, moorland, coasts and wetlands – and cities with towers and tall buildings.

Diet

Mainly medium-sized birds caught in flight – pigeons, waders, ducks and songbirds; in cities feral pigeons are key prey. Occasionally bats and small mammals.

Behaviour

Often hunts from height and stoops at great speed to strike prey in mid-air, but also chases in level flight. Pairs are usually long-lasting and territorial, nesting in a simple scrape on a cliff ledge, on bogs or on a tall building. Many populations are resident, while northern birds migrate.

Sources

Photo: Mykola Swarnyk, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Falco peregrinus m Humber Bay Park Toronto.jpg

Sound: Mirko Tomasi, XC750854, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/750854

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_falcon

See also