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A photo of a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest bird in the world, as well as the fastest member of the animal kingdom. According to a National Geographic TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is . As is typical for bird-eating raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. The back and the long pointed wings of the adult are usually bluish black to slate grey with indistinct darker barring (see "Subspecies" below); the wingtips are black. The white to rusty underparts are barred with thin clean bands of dark brown or black. The tail, coloured like the back but with thin clean bars, is long, narrow, and rounded at the end with a black tip and a white band at the very end. The top of the head and a "moustache" along the cheeks are black, contrasting sharply with the pale sides of the neck and white throat. The cere is yellow, as are the feet, and the beak and claws are black. The upper beak is notched near the tip, an adaptation which enables falcons to kill prey by severing the spinal column at the neck. An immature bird is much browner, with streaked, rather than barred, underparts, and has a pale bluish cere and orbital ring.
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Peregrine Falcons on Birda

Photos

Sightings

A map showing the sighting location
Profile picture for Andrew Sheerin
Andrew Sheerin
Thursday 21 Sep 2023 - 12:17pm
United Kingdom
A map showing the sighting location
Profile picture for Stephanie Webb
Stephanie Webb
Thursday 21 Sep 2023 - 11:59am
United Kingdom
A map showing the sighting location
Profile picture for Brenda van Huyssteen (FB) 2022 sightings
Brenda van Huyssteen (FB) 2022 sightings
Thursday 21 Sep 2023 - 7:24am
South Africa
A photo of a Peregrine photographed in  South Africa
Profile picture for Etienne Uys
Etienne Uys
Wednesday 20 Sep 2023 - 12:39pm
South Africa
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