They nest south of the tree line throughout the remainder of continental North America, excluding parts of the central United States from North Dakota to Texas and Louisiana. Members of the anatum subspecies are medium-sized and richly pigmented with buffy salmon on the breast they often have black cheeks. Members of the pealei subspecies are large dark birds that nest on the coast of Alaska and British Columbia, mostly resident or only slightly migratory. Three subspecies of Peregrines nest in North America: the pealei subspecies Falco peregrinus pealei, the anatum subspecies Falco peregrinus anatum, and the tundrius subspecies Falco peregrinus tundrius. Their great powers of flight have enabled them to establish nesting populations in the Arctic, and as far south as Tasmania, South Africa, and the Falkland Islands. Twenty-two subspecies are recognized throughout the world. With the exception of Antarctica, New Zealand, and Iceland, the Peregrine is found around the globe. A female Peregrine that nested in Edmonton flew to Mazatlan, Mexico, in less than eight days and returned in six days. Peregrines often migrate very rapidly between breeding and wintering areas, flying as much as 500 km per day. The Peregrine Falcon has been the favourite of falconers for over 3 000 years, ever since the nomads of central Asia first pursued game with trained hawks and falcons.Įxtremely acute eyesight, even in dim light, allows falcons to be very effective hunters around dawn and dusk. Some more recent city nestings, a direct result of the introduction of captive-raised falcons, have taken place in Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Brandon, Winnipeg, London, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and Saint John. Paul, Minnesota, had bred for 16 consecutive years, had six different mates, and produced 43 young. Her breeding record remained unmatched in the annals of bird study until 2003, when a female named Meg, in St. An aggressive bird, she remained for 16 breeding seasons, had three successive mates, and reared 21 young. One of the most famous of such birds was Scarlet, a female that appeared as a yearling in 1937 outside the twentieth floor of the Sun Life headquarters building in Montreal. Ground- or bog-nesting occur in northern Finland, for example, and tree-nesting is taking in place in Germany following recent reintroductions of Peregrines where the populations had vanished.Ī departure from the tradition of nesting on cliffs is the Peregrine’s use of tall buildings. In North America, they rarely nest on flat ground or in trees, but such sites are more common in other parts of their range. In remote, relatively undisturbed areas such as the Canadian Arctic, they also choose steep slopes, river cutbanks, and even low rocks and mounds. For example, successive pairs have nested on the same ledges on the island of Lundy, off the southwest coast of England, since at least 1243. In fact, an extraordinary feature of these birds is their traditional use of certain ledges for nesting. Although similar, the voices of the two sexes can be distinguished: the male’s is more wheezy and high-pitched, while the female’s is grating and more coarse. Because the calls often intensify the nearer someone gets to the nest, the Peregrine may unknowingly aid rather than intimidate the nest seeker. Aggressive birds may dive within a metre of intruders or even strike them, screaming a high-pitched cack-cack-cack. Peregrines become excited and sometimes aggressive when humans approach their nests, particularly if young are present. Traditionally, the female has been known as the “falcon” and the male as the “tercel.” Signs and sounds Some Peregrines have lived 18 to 20 years, but the average life span is much shorter. Their powerful talons and strong hooked beak, equipped with a notch or “tooth” that aids in severing the spinal cord of avian prey, mark them as highly specialized predators. In flight they use quick, powerful wing strokes. Generally smaller and more streamlined than hawks, Peregrines, like all falcons, have small heads, firm compact plumage, and long pointed wings-adaptations that allow them to fly at great speed. Young Peregrines have upperparts whose colour varies from pale to slate or chocolate brown and underparts that are buffy with blackish streaks. The throat is white and the underparts are white to buff, with blackish brown bars on the sides, thighs, abdomen, underwings, and lower breast area. The Peregrine’s most reliable distinguishing features are the blackish malar, or cheek, stripe below the eye and the dark bluish-grey or slate-coloured crown, back, and upper surface of the wings. Adult females are larger than males, measuring 45 to 59 cm and weighing about 910 g, compared with the males’ length of 36 to 49 cm and weight of about 570 g. The Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus is a sturdy crow-sized falcon.
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