The fastest animal is the peregrine falcon. The peregrine falcon is the fastest bird of prey in the world: a description with a photo, a video of a falcon hunting. Develops maximum speed among living beings. How long do peregrine falcons live

The peregrine falcon is the fastest bird in the entire universe, there are more than 17 subspecies of them.

It has no equal among feathered predators, it is common in all corners of our Planet, except for Antarctica.

Appearance

The female is larger than the male, the body length is from 42 to 55 cm, the wingspan varies from 93 to 115 cm, the total weight of the female reaches up to 1300, and the male up to 600 grams.

Its back is covered with slate-gray plumage, a variegated and white belly, and its head and mustache are black. On its paws, yellow in color, there are dark claws that resemble the shape of hooks.

The beak is short, it has two nostrils, the eyes are large, and around the perimeter they are surrounded by a yellowish line of 1.2 mm. Vision is clear, able to detect the victim at a distance of more than 1.5 km.

The tail is narrow, of decent size with a slate-gray color and curved at the end. The underside of the tail is dark in color with a small light stripe at its end.

The flight speed of the peregrine falcon is capable of reaching over 325 km/h, that's almost 100 meters per second.

Habitat

The distribution area of this species is extensive, as we wrote earlier, it does not live only in the Arctic. However, in other places it lives everywhere.

And so, let's concretize the situation a little and give some scientific data for a clearer picture. This bird lives from the Arctic to South Asia and Australia, from the western part of Greenland through almost all of North America.

Habitat

This formidable predator prefers to inhabit areas inaccessible to humans, where there are peat bogs, steppes and semi-empty areas. In central Europe, he lives in mountainous uplands. It nests on sheer cliffs, along rivers and in old quarries.

They can also settle on tall trees, occupying other people's nests, since by nature they are not adapted to twist their own. They try to avoid those areas where dense and tall vegetation grows.

Sometimes, no matter how strange it sounds, the peregrine falcon can nest in settlements or cities. Birds occupy nests of other species, which are located on the roofs of shrines and other structures covered with stone structures.

In the winter season, it can migrate to areas where there are water bodies: rivers, lakes, and hunts other birds. It can be found during seasonal infrequent migrations, adults are sedentary, and the younger generation constantly wanders over great distances.

reproduction

The peregrine falcon creates a pair for life, they choose their nesting place in hard-to-reach places, such as:

rock cornices;
Tall trees;
Roofs of houses or churches;

Also, they are very attached to the same nesting place, every year one and the same pair tries to occupy exactly the habitat that they occupied the previous year.

There is enough space in the dwelling to accommodate chicks and two adults, and besides, it is reliably protected from enemies and predators.

The body of males is ready for fertilization a year after birth, however, they take part in reproduction at 1.5 or 2 years of age.

The breeding season comes in May and lasts until June, in the northern regions it starts later. The male first flies to the place of dwelling. Seducing the female, he invents various pirouettes in the air, acrobatic action in the form of a spiral or clearly dives into a dive. etc.

If the chosen one pleased the female, she sits down to him at a short distance, which means that the pair has formed. Sitting next to each other, they mutually clean each other's feathers, gnaw their claws.

During mating courtship in the air, the male often fertilizes his chosen one with captured prey. To accept a gift, the female turns her back down on the fly, and the male at this moment passes the caught trophy to her.

These birds do not settle next to other pairs, the distance between neighbors must be at least 1200 meters, but the maximum distance between them can reach up to 2.6 km. This is due to the fact that this distance is enough to feed themselves without violating the territorial integrity of their relatives.

This occupied area can contain up to 10 places where a pair can lay eggs, each new season they may occupy one of the places mentioned. The peregrine bird of prey carefully guards the territory entrusted to it, if someone dares to disturb their nesting place, they can attack more powerful birds, such as:

Voronov;
Orlov;

If the birds notice people, they begin to show concern already at a distance of 350 - 500 meters to the dwelling, it is accompanied by loud and piercing sounds characteristic of falcon species.

peregrine falcon voice

First, the male circles over people, later the female joins him, so as not to lose sight of them, from time to time they sit down next to them.

The location of the habitat directly depends on the landscape, however, in one case or another, the approach to it should be accessible and convenient. There must be a pond or river near the nesting site.

If this is a rocky area, then crevices or a place on a ledge of a slope are found, where a dwelling can be located at a height at least 30 to 85 meters. Not often, but it happens when peregrine falcons occupy the nests of other birds, such as:

kite;
Osprey;
Crow;
buzzard;
Goshawk;

The floor in their dwelling is not specially covered, but with repeated exploitation, it contains old feathers and bones of past victims. One of the features of this bird is a huge accumulation of bone debris around the perimeter of the nest, which accumulates over many years, as well as droppings left by the young generation.

The female lays once a year, within forty-eight hours one egg appears, if for some reason she is destroyed, she will lay eggs for the second time. More often in the clutch there are 2 or 3, less often from 2 to 5 eggs of a rusty-red color and with brown speckles.

It has dimensions of 52-53X42-44 mm. For 35 days, the female and male will incubate them, but the female incubates more often, since the male forages at this time.

After the chicks begin to hatch, at first they are helpless. For the first time in their life, their body is covered with dirty-light fluff, the limbs are disproportionate and very developed. The mother of the chicks carefully warms them and feeds them.

The head of the family spends most of his time hunting, because the need for food increases every day more and more. It is capable of flying from 22 to 45 kilometers in search of prey..

After 45 days, the chicks will make their first flight from the family nest, but for some time they will be next to their parents, since they are too young at this age and do not have hunting skills, unlike their parents.

Nutrition

As you already know, the peregrine falcon is the fastest bird and it hunts exclusively on its own kind. Their diet is very diverse, let's briefly look at her daily menu in the list:

The bird bends its crescent-shaped wings and flies as if into an abyss. Once in such a situation, the victim has no chance to escape, the peregrine falcon beats her with such force that the bird’s head can fly off and the body is torn, but if she remains alive, he breaks her neck with his powerful beak.

Lifespan

IN wild nature this bird can live up to 25 years.

Red Book

Couples who live in places that are not safe for themselves are strictly protected by law. The total number of birds of this species permanently residing in the territory European states, is no more than 5000 brood pairs.

During the Second World War, this bird was destroyed by soldiers, as it caught carrier pigeons.
The male is smaller than the female by a third.
In the near future, he is threatened with complete or partial extinction.
He has very clear vision and is able to recognize prey at a height of more than 310 meters.
Peregrine falcons were often used for hunting, as well as.
Falconry is only a sport these days.

The peregrine falcon belongs to the falcon family. This predatory representative of the flora is distributed throughout the globe with the exception of Antarctica. It is not for nothing that the peregrine falcon is called the fastest of all living creatures - it can dive at a speed of 300 km / h.

The peregrine falcon belongs to the falcon family.

bird features

In the family of falcons, the peregrine falcon shares the first line of popularity with the gyrfalcon. The bird is similar in size to a crow. The body length of males is about 50 cm, but females are slightly larger - about 70 cm. The weight of an adult male can reach 1 kg, and an adult female - 1.5 kg. The wingspan in flight in an adult is from 80 to 120 cm. The body of the bird is well developed. Even under the cover of feathers, muscles and a wide chest are visible.

The short tail and wide wings allow the falcon to dive and overtake the prey. Ornithologists believe that nature has created a peregrine falcon “an ideal killing machine”: a sharp beak and long strong paws with clawed fingers in flight simply rip apart the body of the victim. The color of the bird is also interesting. Young individuals are colored brown, and the lower part is light gray. But with age, the color intensifies and turns into a slate gray with black tints. The breast can become pinkish, yellow and gray-white. The color depends on the habitat. In addition, dark blotches are scattered throughout the plumage.

The peregrine falcon is a cunning and ruthless adversary

However, hunters all over the world appreciate this fastest living creature not for beauty, but for speed. The peregrine falcon is a cunning and ruthless adversary. During the hunt, he soars above the ground and looks out for the victim, because nature has endowed him with very sharp eyesight. The falcon feeds on pigeons, gulls, sparrows.

Quite often, a predator can grab a bird from the ground that is larger than it in size - a heron, duck or goose. Occasionally, falcons hunt even small rodents, but they do not touch large mammals.

And yet, the peregrine falcon's favorite hunt is aerial. Looking out for prey, the bird develops a speed of up to 110 km / h. And although swifts, swallows and other birds fly at the same speed, the secret of the falcon is a sharp deadly dive. He dives on his prey at a speed of 250 to 300 km / h, and then hits her with his paws and beak. Interestingly, a diving bird does not suffocate only due to the special structure of the nasal septum. In it, the air flow slows down, and therefore the catcher does not even notice that he is rushing at great speed.

The peregrine falcon is the fastest bird, capable of developing the highest speed among all living creatures on the planet. Among the falcons, the peregrine falcon can only share the glory with its relative, the gyrfalcon. Among other species, saker falcon, shahin, kestrels, and falcons are close to it.

A peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) caught a pigeon.

Like most falcons, the peregrine falcon is a medium-sized bird. In length, it reaches 40-50 cm, and weighs 0.6-1.3 kg, and the females of the peregrine falcon are larger than the males. The body of this bird is streamlined, swift. The chest is well-muscled, the wings are long, and the tail, on the contrary, is short. The ends of the wings are pointed, the tail is bluntly cut, the beak, although it looks small, is strong and ends with a sharp hook. However, the peregrine falcon's main weapon is its relatively long legs with strong and clawed toes. A blow with clawed paws at high speed rips the victim's body like a cutter. The color of males and females is the same: on top of the body of peregrine falcons is slate-gray, the same color of the cheeks, the underside of the body is light - from white to reddish-ocher. Mottling is scattered all over the body, almost imperceptible on the upper side of the wings and forming a clear "hawk" pattern on the underside of the body. The base of the beak, eyelids and paws are bright yellow. Some subspecies may have slight deviations from this color. The peregrine falcon's voice is a shrill "kya-kya".

The young peregrine falcon differs from adult birds by the yellowness of the abdomen and almost longitudinal stripes.

The range of the peregrine falcon is unusually wide; these birds live throughout Eurasia, North America and in most of Africa, also found in Madagascar, some Pacific islands (up to Australia), in the extreme south of South America. Peregrine falcons inhabit open areas, most often found in the tundra, forest-tundra, forest-steppes, savannahs, on rocky coasts of the seas. These birds avoid solid forests and deserts, but they willingly settle in urban landscapes ranging from ancient cathedrals in small towns to modern skyscrapers in megacities. In the tropical regions, peregrine falcons are sedentary, in the south of the temperate zone they migrate to the south in winter, in the northern parts of the range they are typically migratory birds.

Peregrine falcons live alone, in the nesting period they keep in pairs. Pairs of birds guard their sites very zealously, they drive out not only their relatives, but also other large species of birds (eagles, ravens). Peregrine falcon areas are extensive, each nesting site is 3-10 km away from the neighboring one. It is interesting that peregrine falcons never hunt near their nest, no matter how much prey there is, therefore geese, swans, goose tend to settle closer to peregrine falcon nests. In this case, they and their offspring are guaranteed to be protected not only from the attack of falcons, but also from the attacks of other birds of prey, which the peregrine falcons drive away.

The favorite prey of peregrine falcons are birds of medium size: pigeons, gulls, sandpipers. During the period of feeding chicks, they can also hunt unusually small prey (small waders and passerines), but at times peregrine falcons can encroach on birds much larger than themselves. It is not difficult for a peregrine falcon to get a heron, a goose, a duck, the weight of which is several times greater than its own. Peregrine falcons rarely hunt terrestrial animals (rodents), and do not touch larger animals at all. It must be said that peregrine falcons equally take prey both from the ground (sick or young birds that cannot fly) and from the air, but peregrine falcon aerial hunts attract the most attention. The flight of the peregrine falcon is easy with frequent wingbeats, only in horizontal flight the peregrine falcon develops a speed of no more than 100-110 km / h. Of course, this is a lot, but swifts, swallows and even pigeons fly at the same speed and can dodge a peregrine falcon. It turns out that the peregrine falcon is not such a successful predator. But these falcons have a secret weapon - a swift dive. Here the peregrine falcon knows no equal in the world of animals, because in the fall his body cuts the air at a speed of 240-300 km / h! This is the highest speed recorded among all living beings in general.

Peregrine falcon in a characteristic peak with half-folded wings.

In connection with such features of the flight, the peregrine falcons developed their own style of hunting. These birds do not try to catch up with the prey in an open competition for speed, more often the peregrine falcon tracks down prey from a shelter (a crevice in the rocks, a dry tree), and then catches up with it with a sudden jerk, and the peregrine falcon tries not to fly after the victim in a straight line, but dive under it, and best to be on top. Having reached such a position, he folds his wings (this significantly increases the speed of free fall) and swoops down on the victim. The peregrine falcon grabs its prey with its paws, which, combined with the enormous speed of the collision, can already be fatal for the victim, if this was not enough, then the peregrine falcon finishes the prey with a blow from a sharp beak.

Peregrine falcons are monogamous birds, their pairs last a lifetime. The mating ritual consists of acrobatic flight, somersaults in the air and the transfer of prey by the male to the female on the fly. Peregrine falcons build nests clumsily, the nest litter is always poor and consists of several branches and large feathers, in this regard, peregrine falcons often occupy crow nests, impudently driving out their owners. Peregrine falcons always strive to build their own nests on safe hills (rocks, tall buildings), with such convenient nesting sites, they can occupy such places from generation to generation for centuries. In addition, each pair on the site has several spare nests that they can use when the main one is ruined. On vast plains (for example, in the tundra), peregrine falcons dig a shallow hole in the ground - that's the whole nest.

Mating flight of peregrine falcons.

In April-May, the female lays 2-5 eggs (usually 3) of red-chestnut color with dark strokes and speckles. The pair incubates the clutch for 33-35 days, but the female sits on the nest more often. Peregrine falcon chicks are covered with white fluff and are warmed by the female for the first time. The male provides the family with food, the parents tear the prey into small pieces and feed individual meat fibers to the chicks. The chicks grow rapidly and fledge in a month, and after a month and a half they try to fly. The art of deft hunting is not given to young birds immediately, therefore, about a month after they take to the wing, young peregrine falcons are fed by their parents. Birds reach puberty by the year, but pairs form only at 2-3 years of age.

Peregrine falcon eggs in a ground nest.

In nature, peregrine falcons have few enemies, they can only be hunted by larger birds of prey, nests can be destroyed by ground predators. But peregrine falcons are not a timid bird, in most cases they actively attack even large animals (for example, they constantly circle over a person) and they manage to fend for themselves. People have always admired the flying qualities of peregrine falcons and tried to use them to their advantage. Since ancient times, peregrine falcon chicks have been caught and tamed as birds of prey. Kings, princes and sultans had peregrine falcons, in medieval Europe they hunted pigeons, herons, ducks, geese, waders with them. Peregrine falcons are well tamed and are famous for their prey and spectacular hunting style, there are cases when these birds paid tribute and taxes.

The peregrine falcon uses the sculptural decorations of the cathedral as an observation deck.

However, trouble came from a person to peregrine falcons. It happened in the middle of the twentieth century, when pesticides were invented to kill insects. It turned out that the pesticide DDT accumulates in the body of insects and insectivorous birds, and when peregrine falcons eat the latter, it enters their body. High doses of DDT disrupted the metabolism of falcons and they laid eggs with abnormally thin shells; in the 1950s and 60s, many pairs of peregrine falcons in Europe and North America were unable to hatch chicks, and this led to a global decline in the world population of these birds. Only a complete ban on DDT and the breeding of peregrine falcons in special nurseries made it possible to save these beautiful birds. Now peregrine falcons have restored their numbers and are even trying to populate such large cities as New York, for example. Here, peregrine falcons have a rich food base in the form of innumerable flocks of pigeons. In our time, these falcons are again in the service of man, now they are used to scare away flocks of birds near airports.

Not only creatures living on land are trying to demonstrate their speed qualities, but also those who are able to rise high into the sky. After all, there, just like on earth, there is a constant struggle for life. And here, as they say, you have to try very hard to get out of this struggle as a winner.

The speed of animals living on land depends entirely on the structure of the skeleton and on the strength of the limbs. The speed of birds that soar high in the sky depends a little on other important factors. Here the speed of envy is not only from the structure of the skeleton and from the strength of the wings, but also from the special ability to use all this. Our conversation will go about the fastest birds.

1st place. peregrine falcon

Peregrine falcon (lat. Falco peregrinus) - this predatory bird the size of an ordinary gray crow, but this does not prevent it from being the fastest among all birds. The falcon hunts in the air: before attacking the prey, the falcon rises high up, gaining the required height, and only then falls down like a “stone”. In such a fall, the predator develops speed as much as 100 m / s, which equals 350 km / h.

2nd place. Black swift

Black swift (lat. Apus apus) is the main rival of the peregrine falcon in high-speed flight, as well as one of its victims. However, the falcon loses heavily to the swift in level flight, which allows the second to elude its enemy. Although the black swift is a small bird (its wingspan is 40-46 cm), it can easily reach speeds of up to 150 or even 180 km / h.

These birds live all their lives in the air, where they spend all 24 hours, and black swifts live a little over three years. These birds even manage to sleep in flight: having risen to a height of 2 to 3 thousand meters, they circle there in a spiral, waking up every 5 seconds to make another flap of their wings.

3rd place. Grey-headed albatross

Grey-headed albatross (lat. Thalassarche chrysostoma) is a sea bird with the largest wingspan of 3.5 m! Naturally, the albatross cannot make such dizzying dives as the peregrine falcon, but it can fly at speeds up to 130 km / h, which it can maintain for 8 hours.

In addition, he can sleep at an altitude of about 2-3 kilometers, circling almost in one place. Due to its unique speed qualities, the gray-headed albatross is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

4th place. Gaga

Gaga (lat. somateria) is a type of large sea birds. Eider in horizontal flight can reach speeds of up to 100 km / h. Although it is not as fast as the albatross, however, it has excellent swimmer qualities: with the help of its wings, the eider can dive to a depth of 20 meters, where it catches fish, crustaceans, various invertebrates and molluscs. Eiders almost never come out on land.

5th place. Pigeon

Pigeons are wonderful flyers with incredible memory. Thanks to this quality, carrier pigeons have been used at all times to send correspondence. Especially during World War II. The flight speed of a carrier pigeon is 85-100 km / h. They can be in flight for about 16 hours - without rest! In many countries, monuments have been erected to the carrier pigeon.

6th place. Starling

Starlings (lat. Sturnus vulgaris) is a small bird that not only sings beautifully, but also flies beautifully, developing a flight speed of up to 70 km / h. The starling can travel hundreds of kilometers during its annual seasonal migration. It should be noted that starlings are capable of high speed fly into the hole of his "home" and at the same time he is not injured at all.

7th place. Thrush fieldfare

Thrush fieldfare (lat. Turdus pilaris) - differs from the rest of its counterparts in the way of life. He likes to settle in small copses and park areas - this bird cannot be found in dense forests. The very name of this bird speaks of its extraordinary love for mountain ash. Despite the fact that it is slightly larger than the starling, however, its speed is less - about 70 km / h.

8th place. swallows

Swallows are very often confused with swifts, however, swallows have wider wings and a more pronounced "fork" of the tail. In addition, swallows lose to swifts in speed. The speed of even a coastal, even a village swallow is about 65 km / h. But swallows are much more maneuverable than swifts, they can easily and not only at high speed, but also practically on the spot, turn around 360 degrees.

9th place. common kestrel

Common kestrel (lat. Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey, a distant relative of the peregrine falcon. It hunts small rodents, attacking them from above. Develops speed up to 60-65 km/h. Easily alternates slow and rapid flight, preferring a soft glide in the air.

10th place. Chizh

Chizh (lat. carduelis spinus) is a small songbird that almost never descends to the ground, preferring to sit on the branches of trees. In the air, the siskin is capable of reaching speeds of up to 60 km / h.

The peregrine falcon is a remarkable bird in many ways. The absolute champion of the bird world in high-speed flight. In the famous hunting “bets”, when the falcon, having gained altitude, beats the intended victim from above on a tangent, the highest speed for birds is recorded - 290 kilometers per hour. Why are there birds, the peregrine falcons lost the absolute speed record to a person on an airplane just a little more than half a century ago, when in the early 20s the then “heavenly slug” finally stepped abroad 300 kilometers.

From time immemorial, among all peoples, the falcon served on merit symbol courage, daring and bravery. This is the bird that, in an air fight, knocks down prey five to ten times larger in weight than itself; that fast predator, seeing which flying ducks from a terrible height fall like a stone down to dive under the water. The eagle, accidentally flying to the falcon's nest, hurries to get away as soon as it hears the loud combat call of the peregrine falcon, which rushed to the attack. Pursued by falcons, small birds throw themselves at the feet of people, hide under carts, fly into barns to escape from inevitable death.
The flight of the peregrine falcon is strong and indefatigable, its eyes are vigilant; his prey throws are striking in their swiftness and precise calculation. Hunting peregrine falcon behind a flying flock of large birds is one of the most interesting sights that a nature lover can see.

In our country, the technique of breeding raptors is being worked out in the Issyk-Kul reserve; A project is underway to create an aviary center on the basis of the Oksky Reserve.

The peregrine falcon is a faithful bird: a pair is formed for life, not, nesting is chosen for life. There are many cliffs in the North, called falcons, where nests of peregrine falcons have been known for many decades or even centuries. These birds leave their favorite places only under compulsion - because of the destruction of the nest, shooting, anxiety.

Some of the peregrine falcons are settled, and the seasonal movements of tundra birds do not extend for tens of thousands of kilometers, like migrations, for example, of the red-footed falcons. Therefore, the Latin name of the peregrine falcon, which has passed into many languages, looks like some absurdity - the traveler falcon. However, one can understand naturalists who suspected the peregrine falcon in distant wanderings if they met him in Alaska and Madagascar, Scandinavia and Australia, Taimyr and the Fiji Islands. The word “peregrine falcon” that has become entrenched in Russian is of Kalmyk origin.

Peregrine falcons nest in a variety of places: on river cliffs and rocky cliffs, on cornices and in niches, on the tops of ridges and marsh hummocks, in other people's nests and spacious hollows, on ancient ruins and modern skyscrapers. One of the famous female peregrine falcons nested in Montreal for 16 consecutive years on the eaves of a 20-story insurance company building, where a special box of sand was reinforced for her. From 1937 to 1952, she lost two spouses, but raised 21 fledglings. Peregrine falcon nests are known on bell towers (in Poltava, for example), cathedrals, towers, and even on the courthouse in Nairobi behind the bas-relief of the British coat of arms. Peregrine falcons were often seen on high-rise buildings in Moscow, but there is no direct evidence of their nesting there. Before the war, the peregrine falcon successfully nested in the suburban Pogono-Losinoostrovsky forest for many years.

On the ground or in a niche, the female scratches a shallow hole with her claws, which completes the care for the arrangement of the dwelling. In Australia, this process was observed in detail. A good niche in the cliff was first discovered by the male. Repeatedly flying up to her with a characteristic cry, he tried in every possible way to attract the attention of the female to his choice. The female preferred a worse cave (with a sloping bottom), but her own. Then she worked for twenty days, digging a nesting hole, without much, however, stress: for 3-4 seconds 2-3 times a day,

The peregrine falcon is strictly territorial. Nesting sites of neighboring pairs are located no closer than 2-3 kilometers from each other, usually further 5-10. Birds especially protect the area around the nest with a radius of about 100 meters; other birds of prey, snowy owls, and skuas are driven here. Do not stand on ceremony with foxes. And once they observed how the peregrine falcons hit the dog several times, quickly driving it away from the nest.

Clutch - from 3-5 red-brown eggs. Incubation lasts about a month, feeding the chicks in the nest for about 6 weeks.

For thousands of years, the courage of the peregrine falcon has served him faithfully in protecting offspring. And in recent decades, it turned into his misfortune. The habit of making a fuss, barely seeing an enemy or a stranger, frightens the enemies of nature - they know the crushing power of the combined efforts of a pair of peregrine falcons. Today, alas, it does not scare away a person, but, on the contrary, attracts. A clear graduation of the intensity of the voice and the degree of courage of the falcons as they approach the nest serves as an excellent bearing of their exact location. Such homing too often ends in tragedy both for the clutch or brood and for their undaunted defenders. "The madness of the brave..." A cruel paradox: a poetic symbol sometimes turns into a hypocritical pretext for "shooting in self-defense." But it is permissible to ask - who called you, well-aimed shooters at the insanely brave suicide falcons, to their home?

Peregrine falcon is a medium predator size, characterized by a very strong addition. He has a broad chest with hard and bulging muscles, long sharp wings, short tarsals and long strong fingers. Males weigh about 600-750 grams; females are larger, their weight is 1100-1300 grams. The falcon's beak is rather short, bent, with a sharply protruding tooth on the upper jaw; claws very sharp and sharply bent. His eyes are large, bulging, dark brown, with a sharp, piercing gaze. Perhaps the look seems so because the eye is surrounded by a yellowish ring of bare skin. The upper side of an adult bird is brownish-gray, with light-gray transverse stripes; the underparts are whitish, with a reddish chest and small blackish spots and stripes. How older bird, the less she has on the underside of these dark spots. Long black whiskers run from the corner of the mouth to the throat; legs, beak cere and eye ring bright yellow. In young falcons, these bare parts are pale greenish-yellow, and the color of the first plumage is dark brown above, with rufous rims. The abdomen is reddish, with longitudinal brown stripes. This first outfit is replaced only a year later. A peregrine falcon flying from a distance can be mixed in color with a goshawk, to which it is similar in size, but the wings of a falcon are longer, and the tail is shorter and sharper.

peregrine falcon common around the globe. In Russia, it is found from the islands of the Arctic Ocean
and northern tundra to the Crimea, the Caucasus, the mountains of Central Asia and the Amur region. It is not found only in the steppes of Ukraine, the Volga region, Western Siberia, in the flat deserts of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, although it happens here in flight.
Falcons are very unpretentious in the choice of habitats. They can be found in the tundra, on the sea coasts, in the mountains, forests, sometimes even on high towers in big cities. In Moscow, for example, falcons sometimes nested on the large bell towers of some churches. Falcons avoid only treeless steppes and dense dense forests, where there are few open spaces. It is difficult for falcons to hunt in the forest, depending on the way they attack their prey.

The falcon, with rare exceptions, does not take a bird sitting on the ground, hiding in branches or floating on the water, and does not touch animals running on the ground. His element is air. Already a young falcon that has just flown out of the nest, without any lessons from its parents, seizes a flying bird with extraordinary speed and accuracy. At attack a peregrine falcon rises above it on a bird and, folding its wings, then rushes from above, somewhat obliquely. He strikes with paws folded and pressed to the body. The attack of the peregrine falcon is so swift and the blow is so strong that often the predator does not have time to capture the affected bird with its front fingers (the blow is actually applied with the claws of the rear finger), and the killed or seriously wounded victim falls to the ground, and the falcon is already descending to it. If a duck or other bird of the same size is hit on the neck, its head often flies off. The falcon interrupts the wing bones even in large birds; and a blow that fell along the body rips a medium-sized bird almost along its entire length. This force of impact is largely due to the speed of the falcon's attack. According to exact calculations, falling on the prey at an angle of 25 °, the falcon flies at a speed of 75 meters per second; when falling at an angle close to a straight line, the speed increases to 100 meters per second, that is, it approaches the speed of high-speed aircraft.

With such a flight, the falcon is not visible: watching it, you notice only a flickering shadow and hear the sharp noise of the air cut through. One should not think that the falcon strike goes in the direct direction to the prey: with the terrible force of the expansion, the peregrine falcon would break its legs. The fall of the falcon usually occurs somewhat behind or to the side of the pursued bird, and the blow is applied “on a tangent”, when the predator, opening its wings, begins to rise. If the blow is not particularly strong, then the falcon finishes off the bird by breaking its neck with its beak (the hook on the upper half of the beak helps it in this).
With the speed and strength of the flight, the falcon sometimes begins to pursue the sighted bird already from a distance of 1500, more often - 1000 meters (whereas other predators, such as hawks, do not attack a flying bird more than 100-150 meters away). The most hunting happens in different ways. The falcon, flying quickly low above the ground, frightens the bird and, forcing it to rise, flies higher itself, and then beats in the manner described. Or he looks out for prey while sitting somewhere on a high place, in order to catch up later. Sometimes the peregrine falcon flies high (“on horseback”) and from there rushes at a flying bird. Often falcons hunt in pairs, the male together with the female.
With their skill in flying, there is, in fact, not a single bird that would be completely immune from the attacks of falcons. Even swifts and swallows fall into their paws. Usually peregrine falcons feed on medium-sized birds: pigeons, ravens, thrushes, starlings, waders, teals, ducks. Hunting trained falcons (“mature”) also take large birds - geese or herons.
In order to get enough, a falcon (an adult bird) needs relatively little - about 150 grams of pure meat. But in the wild, peregrine falcons eat more; often a falcon eats a small duck or dove in one day. small birds they eat it whole, while in the middle ones they leave the insides, the sternum, the large bones of the legs and wings. They also swallow small bones and part of the feathers, their undigested remains are then thrown out through the mouth in the form of lumps called pellets.

Northern falcons fly away from their homeland for the winter, usually following the departing water bird; in the middle lane peregrine falcons more or less settled. Very early, even before the beginning of spring, from mid-February, northern falcons begin to move from their wintering grounds. In Ukraine, they begin to meet in the first half of March; in the middle zone of the European part of Russia, they fly in early April, when the local peregrine falcons are already starting to nest. The time of appearance of tundra falcons at the nests depends on the timing of the arrival of ducks, geese and other birds that make up their prey. At this time, in Central Europe, falcons already have a full clutch of eggs.
In the middle lane, falcons mate already in March. At this time, the male and female rush with a characteristic loud cry(like “kyak-kyak-kyak...”), playing in the air at high altitude. The female lives with the male for several years. If one bird from a pair is killed, another one appears to replace it. Usually a pair of falcons nest many lags in the same nest.

The decline in the number of peregrine falcons is an almost worldwide phenomenon. Very few of the well-studied populations escaped this unfortunate fate in the post-war decades. To the surprise of ornithologists, a solid group of about 500 pairs of peregrine falcons in the Aleutian Islands and other archipelagos of the northeastern Pacific Ocean is still relatively stable. It looks unique against the backdrop of the ongoing decline in the number of peregrine falcons throughout the North American continent. In one of its large regions - the eastern half of the United States - peregrine falcons disappeared back in the 60s of this century.

The state of peregrine falcon populations in most European countries is no better. Until the middle of this century, about 800 pairs of falcons nested in Finland, and thirty years later, in the 70s, almost 50 (!) Times less - no more than 20 pairs. Fewer than 10 successfully breeding pairs are now known in Sweden. The last breeding peregrine falcon left Denmark in 1973. Dozens of pairs number the modern peregrine falcon populations in Poland, the GDR, the FRG, and France; individual nesting sites are known in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria; several hundred pairs survive in Spain.

The peregrine falcon is brave. The same buzzard, noticing a stranger near its own nest, begins to lament plaintively in a respectful distance. The presence of the enemy does not frighten the peregrine falcon, but angers. It is curious to see the change in his mood before the change of observers. Having spotted the next attendant for a kilometer and a half, the falcon on the nest begins to fill with anger, as if boiling with rage. The voice becomes menacing, the eyes burn, the body is tense. About 100 meters from the nest, the observer crossed the forbidden line, and the female with a piercing cry breaks down to meet him. In defending the nest, the peregrine falcon is desperately brave, completely obeying the military postulate: "Attack - The best way defense." Summoned by an audible alarm from afar, the male joins the female, pike follows pike, angry projectile birds sometimes fly a meter overhead. At these moments, you clearly understand: any enemy of the peregrine falcon - skuas, arctic foxes, even wolves - will not do well under such a frenzied onslaught.

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