Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Falconiformes
Family:	Falconidae
Genus:	Falco
Species:	peregrinus

Binomial name

Falco peregrinus

The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a medium-sized falcon about the size of a large crow: 15 to 21 inches (38-53 cm) long. It has a wingspan of about 40 inches (1 m).

Adult Peregrine Falcons have slate blue-grey wings and backs barred with black. Their undersides are white with light brown stripes. They have white faces with a black stripe on each cheek, and the head is blue-black. They have large dark eyes. The younger birds are darker below and browner. The females are larger than the males.

In falconry, the hen is known as a falcon and the cock is known as a tercel.

Peregrines eat mostly other birds such as pigeons, shorebirds, starlings, songbirds, parrots, and ducks. They attack their prey by flying high and diving ("stooping") at the victims.

A peregrine's diving speed is often exaggerated, but can exceed 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

If a Peregrine Falcon lives through its first year, it can live up to 10 years. Most do not survive their first year.

The bird's Latin name, peregrinus, means "foreigner" or "traveler". This is because wintering birds often wander far from their frequently bleak breeding areas.

Habitat

Peregrine Falcons live mostly along mountain ranges, river valleys, and coastlines. They are widespread in temperate Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia.

In the USA, Peregrine Falcons used to be most commonly found in parts of the Appalachian Mountains and nearby valleys from New England south to Georgia, the upper Mississippi River valley, and the Rocky Mountains. They also lived along the Pacific coast from Mexico north to the Arctic tundra.

The nest is a scrape or depression dug in gravel on a cliff ledge. Sometimes peregrines will nest in a tree cavity or in an old stick nest if no cliff is available. The female usually lays 3 to 5 eggs; the color ranges from reddish white to mottled brown.

Threats

The Peregrine Falcon became endangered because of the over-use of pesticides, in particular DDT. Pesticide build-up interfered with reproduction, thinning eggshells and severely restricting the ability of birds to reproduce themselves. In several parts of the world, including eastern North America, the Peregrine Falcon was wiped out by pesticides. In 1970, Peregrine Falcons were put on the US endangered species list.

Recovery efforts

Wildlife services around the world organized Peregrine Falcon recovery teams to breed peregrines in captivity, among other places, at Cornell University.

The birds were fed through a chute so they could not see the human trainers. Then, when they were old enough, the box was opened. This allowed the bird to test its wings. As the bird got stronger the food was reduced because the bird could hunt its own food. This procedure is called hacking. To release a captive-bred falcon, the bird was placed in a special box at the top of a tower or cliff ledge.

Worldwide recovery efforts have been remarkably successful. In the United States, the banning of DDT, over time, made it possible for released birds to breed successfully. There are now dozens of breeding pairs of Peregrine Falcons in the northeastern USA. Many have settled in large cities, including New York, where they nest on skyscraper window ledges and the towers of suspension bridges. The story in many other parts of the world has been similar.

Image Slideshow: Peregrine Falcon

Photo Album: Peregrine Falcon

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Peregrine Falcon

Modern Translations: Peregrine Falcon

Language		Translations for "peregrine falcon"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Dutch		slechtvalk (peregrine, Usa: duck hawk). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		隼 . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		はやぶさ. (various references)

Manx		shirragh y ree. (various references)

Pig Latin		eregrinepay alconfay

Romanian		şoim cãlãtor. (various references)

Russian		сапсан. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Anagrams: Peregrine Falcon

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-c-e-e-e-f-g-i-l-n-n-o-p-r-r"
	-4 letters: freelancing, precleaning, preclearing, reenforcing, referencing.
	-5 letters: conferring, freelancer, inelegance, prefinance, recleaning, relearning, repaneling.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Alternative Orthography: Peregrine Falcon

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

50 65 72 65 67 72 69 6E 65 46 61 6C 63 6F 6E

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01010000 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100111 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100101 00100000 01000110 01100001 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101110

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#80 &#101 &#114 &#101 &#103 &#114 &#105 &#110 &#101 &#32 &#70 &#97 &#108 &#99 &#111 &#110

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0050 0065 0072 0065 0067 0072 0069 006E 0065 0046 0061 006C 0063 006F 006E

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Peregrine Falcon (A). The female is larger than the male, as is the case with most birds of prey. The female is the falcon of falconers, and the male the tercel. It is called peregrine from its wandering habits. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Banding Peregrine Falcon chicksBirds of Prey ResearchBirds of Prey National Conservation AreaBOPOwyhee Field OfficeLSRDLower Snake River District.Credit: Barry Rose.		Peregrine Falcon.Credit: Alaska Image Library.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Expression	Frequency per Day
peregrine falcon	398
peregrine falcon picture	35
peregrine falcon photo	12
american peregrine falcon	8
peregrine falcon pic	6
peregrine falcon habitat	4
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Peregrine Falcon

Definition: Peregrine Falcon