Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus

The Peregrine Falcon is our Idaho State Raptor. I shot all the photos in this article at our World Center for Birds of Prey, which also encompasses the Peregrine Fund. This is a large raptor center that has helped revive the Peregrine Falcon population in the world and has assisted with the preservation of other raptors. If you happen to visit the southern Idaho area, I would highly recommend this local that is just south of Boise. You can learn a tremendous amount in a few hours while listening to experts and by observing various prey birds.

This center arose following the widespread use of DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides, resulting in near Peregrine extinction. Peregrines began to produce thin eggshells, resulting in total offspring loss in certain sectors of the globe.

During the second half of World War II, DDT was applied to mosquitoes, which kept malaria at bay. DDT also reduced lice transmitted typhus. Needless to report, DDT preserved the lives of many civilians and troops. “The Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948 for his discovery of the high-efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods.” Following the war, DDT was made available as an agricultural insecticide. During this time, 1950s and 60s, the Peregrine Falcon population alarmingly plummeted. By the end of the 60s, the Peregrine was extinct in the Eastern United States and reduced by 90% in the West.

Fortunately, during the 1970s and 1980s, agricultural use of DDT was banned in most developed countries; however, it is still legally applied in some nations. “Today, 4-5,000 tonnes (metric tons) of DDT are used each year for the control of malaria and visceral leishmaniasis, with India being the largest consumer. India, China, and North Korea are the only countries still producing and exporting it, and production is reportedly on the rise.”

I might add, DDT also harms humans including in the area of mental and physical impairment, according to various studies performed on people before and following exposure.

To revive Peregrines, the Peregrine Fund released over 4,000 captive bred Falcons in 28 states. Today the Peregrine Falcon is no longer endangered in the US.

Trish Nixon with Peregrine by Val Lee

The above photo is of Trish Nixon who is the Word Center Birds of Prey raptor specialist and has assisted me with a couple of my articles. She is very kind and responds swiftly with her wealth of knowledge.

Here is a Peregrine with a group of children:

Peregrine Falcon by Val Lee

I photographed all pics when Trish and the raptor team were displaying their remarkable aves.

Peregrine Falcon by Val Lee

The Peregrine Falcon (falco peregrinus) or Duck Hawk ( they will prey on ducks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJcTRCQblgk) is a cosmopolitan bird of prey in the family Falconidae. The Latin name “peregrinus” means “coming from foreign parts,” which is fitting due to the fact they have one of the longest migrations of any North American bird.

It is a larger Falcon that displays a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and moustache. It has a body length of 13–23 inches and a wingspan of 31–47 inches. Interestingly, the female is 30% larger than the male. This is common in the world of raptors. “Falcon” or “gentle” are the terms used for females and “tiercel” for males. Tiercel (pronounced tur-sul) means 1/3 and is appropriate as males are 1/3 the size of females.

Jesus Christ wonderfully and remarkably designed this hunting winger. It has been classified as the fastest animal on the globe in its hunting dive or stoop:

The Peregrine Falcon hunts at dawn and dusk, when prey is most active. God also equipped it with nocturnal abilities that can be implemented when necessary. It searches for prey either from a high perch or from the air. Once a meal is spotted, often over open water, marshes, valleys, fields and tundra, it begins its stoop, folding back its tail and wings, and tucking feet. You would think the air pressure from a 200 mph dive would damage a bird’s lungs. But not so, as God manufactured small bony tubercles in a Falcon’s nostrils that guide the shock waves of air entering the nasal area, resembling the intake ramps and inlet cones of jet engines. These tubercles reduce air pressure, enabling this raptor to breathe more easily during dives. God equipped their eyes with nictitating membranes (third eyelids). These spread tears and clear debris from their eyes while maintaining their remarkable vision while hunting. (Cats are also drafted with three eyelids to protect their day and night 3-D vision while hunting. They are classified as one of the most successful hunters on land.) Peregrines strike and capture prey in mid-air with a clenched foot, stunning or killing it. It will then drop it to the ground, pluck it and feast.

Their diet consists mostly of medium-sized birds; however, it will occasionally hunt small reptiles or even insects.

Most Peregrine Falcons mate at two to three years of age. Their breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the Tropics. It can be found nearly everywhere on the earth (except extreme polar regions), including lofty mountains, and most tropical rainforests, This is the world’s most widespread bird of prey.

By God’s magnificent design, Peregrine pairs mate for life. All raptors commit for life, being monogamous. A couple will return to the same nesting spot annually. (Trish Nixon shared that raptors who are companions to people reveal no desire to mate and do not.)

When courting that special flyer, a combination of “aerial acrobatics, precise spirals, and steep dives” are implemented to attract and impress. For that added special dating touch, the dashing tiercel will pass caught prey to that special gal in mid-air. To make this flight maneuver possible, the female flies upside-down and receives the food from the talons of her suitor. (Wow wee! I would pay to witness this courtship.)

The Peregrine Falcon is territorial during the breeding season as are most birds. Nesting honeymooners like their privacy and will not build their nest any closer than 0.6 miles (usually farther) from another Peregrine couple. God so designed this far-fetched desired area to ensure sufficient food supply for pairs and their chicks.

A couple will structure their nest in a scrape—normally on a cliff edge or on a tall building or bridge. (A scrape nest is a shallow depression in soil or vegetation, which typically has a rim deep enough to keep the eggs from rolling away. At times it is lined with vegetation, small stones, shell fragments or feathers.) A scrape nest:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1qDuFiu85k

A pair will defend the chosen nest site against foes, including other Peregrines, also eagles, ravens, herons, gulls and in-ground dwellers—foxes, wolverines, felids, bears and wolves. It is amazing that Peregrines will kill raptors as large as eagles that venture too close to the nest.

Three to four eggs are laid in the scrape. The eggs are white to buff with red or brown markings, and incubated for 29 to 33 days, mainly by the mother. The father will assist with incubation during the day, but at night, only mom broods. The tierce brings food to the falcon and chicks, but the chicks are only fed by the falcon. The date of egg-laying generally occurs from February to March in the Northern Hemisphere, and from July to August in the Southern Hemisphere. Chicks fledge 42 to 46 days after hatching, and remain dependent on their parents for up to two months.

The Peregrine Falcon has been used in falconry for more than 3,000 years, beginning with nomads in central Asia. Due to its ability to dive at high speeds, it was highly sought-after and generally used by experienced falconers. Today, there are few Peregrine falconers. The Peregrine was also used to intercept homing pigeons during World War II. In regards to air safety, Peregrines are occasionally availed to scare away birds at airports, thus reducing the risk of avis plane strikes.

Queen’s Chronicle: “The Peregrine falcon, is one of several species of raptors used at airports to scare away ducks, geese and other birds that could collide with plane engines…The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, operator of the three metropolitan-area airports, explained that a number of measures to prevent bird and plane collisions are already in place. The PA said it, like all airports, follows federally mandated guidelines about bird hazard mitigation techniques. The agency then made public its wildlife control program, outlining several of its components, which include bird population control and habitat management. One method the PA uses to keep birds off the runway and away from aircraft at Kennedy International Airport is called falconry…”

San Francisco Chronicle: “It comes out of the sun in a screaming dive, brushes the target with a whoosh and loops skyward for another run. It’s Sasquatch Millennium Falcon, a peregrine, trying out for a possible job on runway safety patrol at Oakland International Airport. ‘Those killdeer are gone, man. They’re out of here,’ said Billy Mayfield, a port worker who watched Sasquatch chase away a nearby flock of killdeer, one of the most bothersome bird species for both civil and military aviation. Experts say the world’s increasingly busy airports face a growing threat from airplanes smashing into birds, and some see falconry as an added weapon against an expanding bird population.”

As a side note, Christians are blessed with the knowledge that during the millennium period—Jesus Christ’s thousand-year reign on the earth—all predator activities will cease and men and beast will dwell in complete peace. (Isaiah 65:17-24 in the Bible)

A Peregrine’s lifespan can reach 15.5 years.*Info gathered from Wikipedia and other web sources.

Letter to the Bird Enthusiast!

See also: Falcons