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To the Beauty of Birds

The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known as the peregrine and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over 200 mph during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive) making it the fastest bird in the world, as well as the fastest member of the animal kingdom. According to a National Geographic TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is 242 mph.
As is typical for bird-eating raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. According to one study, it has the fastest visual processing speed of any animal tested so far and can register discrete changes up to 129 Hz or cycles per second.
The peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests; the only major ice-free landmass from which it is entirely absent is New Zealand. This makes it the world's most widespread raptor.

The peregrine is a highly successful example of urban wildlife in much of its range, taking advantage of tall buildings as nest sites and an abundance of prey such as pigeons and ducks. Both the English and scientific names of this species mean "wandering falcon," referring to the migratory habits of many northern populations. Wikipedia.

Peregrine Falcon

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