Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The Peregrine Falcon - The Teflon Bird of Prey


"Look up! It's a bird.....It's a plane......It's The Peregrine Falcon!" Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Superman was a fictitious character, as was Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon, and although very popular and very entertaining, was no match for a real, super bird called the Peregrine Falcon.

This creature is one of the most powerful and fast-flying bird there is. The Peregrine Falcon probably has one of the longest migrations of any bird in North America.

Covering as much as 15,500 miles in one year over two different continents, spanning North and South America, hence the meaning of the falcon's name, "wanderer" or the scientific name of "falco pereginus."


This is an incredible flier! You will find that these falcons are averaging 25-34 miles per hour in traveling flight and as fast as 69 miles per hour in direct pursuit of prey with a hunting stoop from heights of over .62 miles!

I don't even know if a Geo Spectrum could cruise at that speed.

After reaching speeds of 200 miles per hour, they will drop toward their prey and kill it by biting into the neck of a passing songbird, duck and occasionally bats. OUCH!!!

These falcons are so acrobatic, they can even catch their prey in mid-air. What a feat!!!
The Peregrine Falcon's habitat is comprised of every continent in the world save Antarctica and on many oceanic islands making them one of the most widely distributed species in the world.


What proof is there that shows the durability of this bird? It has been proven that the falcon can survive in a wide range of areas of habitat to include: urban cities, deserts, the tundra and the tropics.

They remind me of people who live in the state of Maine and then travel to Florida in the winter because the Peregrine Falcon will migrate super long distances from where they reside in the winter, to their summer nesting areas on the globe. Who knows?

They may have even bought into "Time Shares."

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