Animalia Life

Falco peregrinus
SUBFAMILY
Falconinae
TAXONOMY
Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771, Great Britain. About 18 subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Duck hawk; Barbary falcon, Kleinschmidt’s falcon, Peale’s falcon; French: Faucon pиlerin; German: Wanderfalke; Spanish: Halcуn Peregrino.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
13.4–19.7 in (34–50 cm); 1.1–3.3 lb (500–1,500 g); female considerably larger than male (15–20% larger; 50% heavier). Size parrots, auks and petrels, European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Occasionally also mammals such as rabbits, voles, bats, large insects, and (rarely) reptiles and fish. Takes prey up to 4.4 lb (2 kg). Pairs occasionally hunt cooperatively, one splitting a flock and the other following to catch the scattering birds unawares.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Breeds annually as solitary pair, details depending on region. Lays eggs usually in late winter to spring. Does not build a nest, rather makes a shallow scrape in the substrate of the nest, which is most often on a cliff ledge or in a pothole or cave; also on buildings and bridges, on the ground (in predator-free parts of its range such as the Baltic bogs), in large abandoned stick nests of another species (Australia, Germany), or a large tree hole (mainly Australia). Clutch is larger in Northern hemisphere: usually three or four eggs in the Arctic and two or three in Africa and Australia. Incubation lasts about 30–33 days and chicks fledge when they are about five to six weeks old.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not globally threatened. Populations plummeted in the 1960s and 1970s from ill effects of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides used in griculture. After widespread banning of the chemicals beginning in the 1970s, most populations have recovered, some assisted by releases of captive-bred birds. Population numbers typically very stable. A few island subspecies are rare but may always have been so. Still persecuted by keepers of racing pigeons.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Where falconry is legal, the peregrine is a bird of choice. During the pesticide era, the species became a flagship species for the conservation movement and remains a charismatic reminder of that time.

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