The Raptor
Resource Project
P.O. Box 16
Decorah, IA 52101
Bob Anderson
Director
Amy Ries
Webmaster
ries93@gmail.com
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| Home >> Falcon Facts |
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THE PEREGRINE falcon's
scientific name is Falco Peregrinus, which means Falcon Wanderer. Three
subspecies are recognized in North America: F.P. Pealei from the coastal islands
off Alaska; F.P. Tundrius, which nests above the tree line in the Arctic; and F.P.
Anatum, which once ranged over North America from coast to coast. In the 1960s,
scientists discovered that DDT was interfering in the egg shell formation of meat and fish
eating birds. Healthy birds were laying eggs so thin they were crushed by the weight of
the incubating adult. By 1965, no Peregrine falcons were fledged in the eastern or
Central United States. By 1968, the Peregrine population was completely eradicated east of
the Mississippi River. In 1972, use of DDT was severely restricted in the United States
and worldwide.
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 BABY FALCONS are called
eyasses. They are
covered by white down when they are born, which is replaced by feathers in three to five
weeks. Although they have a high mortality rate, Peregrines have been known to live as
long as 15 years. They usually begin breeding at about two years old. These three young
are nesting high atop a power plant stack: power plants have the best production rates in
the Midwest.
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 EYASES
ARE helpless.
One parent (often the female but sometimes the male) stays with the chicks
while the other finds food for the brood. Eyases eat an incredible
amount of food - but then, they double their weight in
only six days and at three weeks will be ten times birth size.
Newly
hatched chicks are wet and covered with white down. But by three weeks
of age, brownish juvenile feathers can be seen poking through the white
fuzz. By
five or six weeks of age, the white fuzz has been completely replaced
by brown feathers. The eyases can be observed jumping around
and testing their
wings, getting ready to fly. Above: This BirdCam picture of Smoke and Prescott was taken when the young
falcons were about 20 days of age.
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PEREGRINE FALCONS are
about the size and weight of a crow - females are larger and more powerful than males.
Adults have slate dark blue-gray wings and backs barred with black, pale undersides, white
faces with a black stripe on each cheek, and large, dark eyes. Their wings are long and
pointed - Peregrines look, in a nutshell, fast.
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PEREGRINE FALCONS have been called
nature's finest flying machine. They are nature's fastest fliers: Peregrines have been
clocked diving, or stooping, at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour! Peregrine falcons feed
primarily on birds they take in the air: their prey includes ducks, pheasants, and
pigeons. Some of the power plants that RRP works with have seen the resident pigeon
population disappear after Peregrines began nesting on site.
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FALCONRY IS an ancient
sport. It was practiced in China before the year 2000 BC: falconry
is also the subject of some of the oldest Egyptian wall paintings.
English playwrite William Shakespeare was a
falconry fan who introduced falconry terms into popular speech: the
word "Hag"
or "Haggard" is the term for a mature wild hawk or falcon.
Horus, an Egyptian god, was a Peregrine falcon: the "Eye of Horus" is
clearly a stylized Peregrine falcon's eye.
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INSIDE THE egg,
the Peregrine chick has its head tucked under its wing. A large
muscle called the hatching muscle runs from the middle of the
neck to the top of the head. About 30 days
after incubation has started, this muscle contracts. The chick's head snaps
up and the egg tooth, a hard pointed knob on top of the beak,
cracks the inside of the eggshell. This
creates a "pip" - a small hole with tiny cracks spreading out across
the shell.
One to two days after pipping, the chick begins moving around in the shell.
The egg tooth
scrapes against the eggshell, cutting a ring through it. 33 days after the
egg is laid, the chick breaks out.
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AT ONE time, the type of
falcon an Englishman was allowed to own marked his rank. A king, the gyrfalcon; an earl,
the peregrine; a yeoman, the goshawk; a priest, the sparrowhawk; and a servant the
kestrel. Notable falconers and enthusiasts include Frederick the Second (who wrote what
some consider the first book of ornithology), William Shakespeare, Marco Polo, and Ghengis
Khan.
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AT RIGHTaround
forty days, young Peregrines begin flying. Peregrine parents
encourage flight by "baiting" the young with food, which is no longer neatly
prepared and fed directly to the young. It is a lot of fun to watch young Peregrines
chasing each other and everything else! As in many other species, Peregrine young learn in
part through "playing" - however, this play can be deadly serious when hunting
is involved. Peregrines
hunt and eat other birds and are famed for their speed (stooping,
or diving, Peregrines have been
clocked at speeds of up to 220mph) and aerial prowess.
Here are some bird fact sheets from one of my OTHER favorite
web sites, the Animal Diversity Web
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