The
Peregrine Falcon (
Falco peregrinus),
also known simply as the
Peregrine, and
historically as the "Duck Hawk" in North America, is a
cosmopolitan bird of prey in the
family Falconidae. It is a large,
crow-sized
falcon, with a
blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and
"moustache". It can reach speeds over in a dive, making it the
fastest animal in the world. As is common with bird-eating raptors,
the female is much bigger than the male. Experts recognize 17–19
subspecies, which vary in appearance and
range; there is disagreement over whether the distinctive
Barbary Falcon is a subspecies or a distinct
species.
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
bird of prey. Both the
English and
scientific names of this species mean "wandering falcon", referring
to the
migratory habits of many
northern populations.
While its diet consists almost exclusively of medium-sized birds,
the Peregrine will occasionally hunt small mammals, small reptiles
or even insects. It reaches sexual maturity at one year, and mates
for life. It nests in a
scrape,
normally on cliff edges or, in recent times, on tall human-made
structures. The Peregrine Falcon became an endangered species in
many areas due to the use of pesticides, especially
DDT. Since the ban on DDT from the beginning of the
1970s onwards, the populations recovered, supported by large scale
protection of nesting places and releases to the wild.
Description
The Peregrine Falcon has a body length of and a wingspan of around
. The male and female have similar markings and
plumage, but as in many
birds of prey the Peregrine Falcon displays
marked reverse
sexual dimorphism
in size, with the female measuring up to 30 percent larger than the
male. Males weigh 440–750
g, and the noticeably
larger females weigh 910–1500 g; for variation in weight between
subspecies, see under that section below.
The back and long, pointed wings of the adult are usually bluish
black to slate gray with indistinct darker barring (see
"Subspecies"
below); the wingtips are
black. The underparts are white to rusty and barred with thin clean
bands of dark brown or black. The tail, colored like the back but
with thin clean bars, is long, narrow and rounded at the end with a
black tip and a white band at the very end. The top of the head and
a "mustache" along the cheeks are black, contrasting sharply with
the pale sides of the neck and white throat. The
cere is yellow, as are the feet, and the
beak and
claws are black. The upper
beak is notched near the tip, an
adaptation which enables falcons to
kill prey by severing the
spinal
column at the neck. The immature bird is much browner with
streaked, rather than barred, underparts, and has a pale bluish
cere.
Taxonomy and systematics
This species was first described by
Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771
Ornithologia Britannica under its current binomial name.
The scientific name
Falco peregrinus, means "wandering
falcon" in
Latin. Indeed, the species' common
name refers to its wide-ranging flights in most European languages.
The Latin term for falcon,
falco, is related to
falx, the Latin word meaning
sickle,
in reference to the silhouette of the falcon's long, pointed wings
in flight.
The Peregrine Falcon belongs to a
genus whose
lineage includes the
hierofalcons and
the
Prairie Falcon
(
F. mexicanus). This lineage probably diverged from
other falcons towards the end of the
Late
Miocene or in the
Early Pliocene,
about 8–5
million years ago
(mya). As the Peregrine-hierofalcon group includes both
Old World and North American species, it is likely
that the lineage originated in western
Eurasia or Africa. Its relationship to other falcons
is not clear; the issue is complicated by widespread
hybridization confounding
mtDNA sequence analyses;
for example a genetic lineage of the
Saker
Falcon (
F. cherrug) is known which originated
from a male Saker producing fertile young with a female Peregrine
ancestor some 100,000 years ago.[ref]
Today, Peregrines are regularly hybridized in captivity with other
species such as the
Lanner Falcon
(
F. biarmicus) to produce the "
perilanner", a somewhat popular bird in
falconry as it combines the Peregrine's hunting
skill with the Lanner's hardiness, or the
Gyrfalcon to produce large, strikingly colored
birds for the use of falconers. As can be seen, the Peregrine is
still genetically close to the hierofalcons, though their lineages
diverged in the
Late Pliocene (maybe
some 2.5–2 mya in the
Gelasian).
Subspecies
Numerous
subspecies of the Peregrine have
been described, with 19 accepted by the
Handbook of the Birds of the
World.
- Falco peregrinus peregrinus, the
nominate subspecies, described by Tunstall in 1771, breeds over much of
temperate Eurasia between the tundra in the north and the Pyrenees
, Mediterranean
region and Alpide belt
in the south. It is mainly non-migratory in Europe, but
migratory in Scandinavia and Asia.
Males weigh 580–750 g, while females weigh 925–1,300 g.
It includes brevirostris, germanicus,
rhenanus, and riphaeus.
- Falco peregrinus calidus, described by John Latham in 1790, was formerly called
leucogenys and includes caeruleiceps.
It breeds
in the Arctic tundra of Eurasia, from
Murmansk
Oblast
to roughly Yana and
Indigirka Rivers, Siberia
. It
is completely migratory, and travels south in winter as far as
sub-Saharan Africa. It is paler
than peregrinus, especially on the crown. Males weigh
588–740 g, while females weigh 925–1,333 g.
- Falco peregrinus japonensis, described by Gmelin in 1788, includes
kleinschmidti and pleskei, and harterti
seems to refer to intergrades with calidus. It is found from
northeast Siberia
to Kamchatka
(though it is possibly replaced by pealei
on coast there), and Japan
.
Northern populations are migratory, while those of Japan are
resident. It is similar to peregrinus, but the young are
even darker than those of anatum.

Australian race
F. p.
macropus
- Falco peregrinus macropus, described by Swainson in 1837 is the Australian
Peregrine Falcon. It is found in Australia
in all regions except the southwest. It is non-migratory. It is
similar to brookei in appearance, but is slightly smaller
and the ear region is entirely black. The feet are proportionally
large.
- Falco peregrinus submelanogenys described by Mathews in 1912, is the Southwest Australian
Peregrine Falcon. It is found in southwest Australia and is
non-migratory.
- Falco peregrinus peregrinator, described by Sundevall in 1837, is known as the
Indian Peregrine Falcon, Black Shaheen, or Indian Shaheen. It was
formerly sometimes known as Falco
atriceps or Falco shaheen. Its range includes
South Asia from Pakistan
across
India
to Sri
Lanka
and Southeastern China
; in Pakistan
it is a military symbol of the Pakistan Air Force. It is
non-migratory. It is small and dark, with rufous underparts barred
with lighter color. In Sri Lanka
this species is found to favour the higher hills
while the migrant calidus is more often seen along the
coast. A population estimate of 40 breeding pairs in Sri
Lanka was made in 1996.
- Falco peregrinus anatum, described by Bonaparte in 1838, is
known as the American Peregrine Falcon, or "Duck Hawk"; its
scientific name means "Duck Peregrine Falcon". At one time, it was
partly included in leucogenys. It is mainly found in the
Rocky Mountains today. It was formerly common
throughout North America between the tundra and northern Mexico
, where
current reintroduction efforts seek
to restore the population. Most mature anatum,
except those that breed in more northern areas, winter in their
breeding range. Most vagrants that reach western Europe seem to
belong to the more northern and strongly migratory
tundrius, only considered distinct since 1968. It is
similar to peregrinus but is slightly smaller; adults are
somewhat paler and less patterned below, but juveniles are darker
and more patterned below. Males weigh 500–570 g, while females
weigh 900–960 g.
- Falco peregrinus cassini, described by Sharpe in 1873,
is also known as the Austral Peregrine Falcon. It includes
kreyenborgi, the Pallid Falcon a leucistic morph
occurring in southernmost South America, which was long believed to
be a distinct species. Its range includes South America from
Ecuador
through
Bolivia
, northern
Argentina
and Chile
to Tierra del
Fuego
and Falkland Islands
. It is non-migratory. It is similar to
nominate, but slightly smaller with a black ear region. The
variation kreyenborgi is medium grey above, has little
barring below, and has a head pattern like the Saker Falcon, but the ear region is white.
- Falco peregrinus tundrius, described by C.M.
White in
1968, was at one time included in leucogenys It is found
in the Arctic tundra of North America
to Greenland
. It migrates to wintering grounds in
Central and South America. Most vagrants that reach
western Europe belong to this subspecies, which was previously
united with anatum. It is the New World equivalent to
calidus. It is smaller than anatum. It is also
paler than anatum; most have a conspicuous white forehead
and white in ear region, but the crown and "moustache" are very
dark, unlike in calidus. Juveniles are browner, and less
grey, than in calidus, and paler, sometimes almost sandy,
than in anatum.
- Falco peregrinus madens, described by Ripley and Watson in 1963, is unusual
in having some sexual
dichromatism. If the Barbary Falcon (see below) is considered a
distinct species, it is sometimes placed therein. It is found in the
Cape Verde
Islands
, and is non-migratory; it is endangered with only
six to eight pairs surviving. Males have a rufous wash on
crown, nape, ears and back; underside conspicuously washed
pinkish-brown. Females are tinged rich brown overall, especially on
the crown and nape.
- Falco peregrinus minor was first described by Bonaparte in 1850. It
was formerly often perconfusus. It is sparsely and
patchily distributed throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa and widespread in
Southern Africa. It apparently reaches
north along the Atlantic
coast as far as Morocco
. It is non-migratory, and small and
dark.
- Falco peregrinus brookei, described by Sharpe in 1873, is also known as the
Mediterranean Peregrine Falcon or the Maltese Falcon. It includes
caucasicus and most specimens of the proposed race
punicus, though others may be pelegrinoides,
Barbary Falcons (see also below), or perhaps the rare hybrids
between these two which might occur around Algeria
. They occur from the Iberian
Peninsula
around the Mediterranean, except in arid regions, to the Caucasus. They are non-migratory. It is
smaller than the nominate subspecies, and the underside usually has
rusty hue. Males weigh around 445 g, while females weigh up to
920 g.
- Falco peregrinus ernesti, described
by Sharpe in 1894, is found from Indonesia
to Philippines
and south to Papua New Guinea
and Bismarck Archipelago
. Its geographical separation from
nesiotes requires confirmation. It is non-migratory. It
differs from the nominate in the very dark, dense barring on its
underside and its black ear coverts.
- Falco peregrinus furuitii,
described by Momiyama in 1927, is found on the Izu
and Ogasawara Islands
. It is non-migratory. It is very rare, and
may only remain on a single island. It is a dark form, resembling
pealei in color, but darker, especially on tail.
- Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides,
first described by Temminck
in 1829, is found in the Canary Islands
through north Africa and the Near East to Mesopotamia. It is most similar to
brookei, but is markedly paler above, with a rusty neck,
and is a light buff with reduced barring below. It is smaller than
the nominate subspecies; females weigh around 610 g.
- Falco peregrinus babylonicus described by P.L. Sclater in
1861, is found in eastern Iran
along the
Hindu
Kush
and Tian
Shan
to Mongolian Altai
ranges. It is paler than
pelegrinoides, and somewhat similar to a small, pale
Lanner Falcon. It is smaller than
Peregrine Falcon; males weigh 330–400 g, while females weigh
513–765 g.
These last two races are often split as
Barbary Falcon Falco pelegrinoides.
There is a 0.6–0.7% genetic distance in the Peregine-Barbary
Falcon ("peregrinoid") complex.Wink
et al. (2000)
These
birds inhabit arid regions from the Canary
Islands
along the rim of the Sahara
through the Middle East to Central Asia and Mongolia
. They have a red neck patch but otherwise
differ in appearance from the Peregrine proper merely according to
Gloger's Rule. The Barbary Falcon has
a peculiar way of flying, beating only the outer part of its wings
like
fulmars sometimes do; this also occurs
in the Peregrine, but less often and far less pronounced. The
Barbary Falcon's
shoulder and
pelvis bones are stout by comparison with the
Peregrine, and its feet are smaller. They have no postzygotic
reproduction barriers in place, but they breed at different times
of year than neighboring Peregrine Falcon subspecies.
Ecology and behavior
The Peregrine Falcon lives mostly along
mountain ranges,
river valleys,
coastlines, and increasingly in
cities. In mild-winter regions, it is usually a
permanent resident, and some individuals, especially adult males,
will remain on the breeding territory. Only populations that breed
in Arctic
climes typically migrate great
distances during the northern winter. The Peregrine Falcon is often
stated to be the fastest animal on the planet in its hunting dive,
the stoop, which involves soaring to a great height and then diving
steeply at speeds commonly said to be over , and hitting one wing
of its prey so as not to harm itself on impact. A study testing the
flight physics of an 'ideal falcon' found a theoretical speed limit
at 400 km/h (250 mph) for low altitude flight and
625 km/h (390 mph) for high altitude flight. In 2005, Ken
Franklin recorded a falcon stooping at a top speed of .
The life span in the wild is up to 15.5 years. Mortality in
the first year is between 59–70%, declining to between 25–32% in
adults. Apart from
anthropogenic
threats like collision with human-made objects, the Peregrine may
be killed by large
eagles or large
owls.The Peregrine Falcon is
host to a range of
parasites and
pathogens.
It is a
vector for
Avipoxvirus,
Newcastle disease virus,
Falconid herpesvirus 1 (and possibly
other
Herpesviridae), and some
mycoses and
bacterial infections.
Endoparasites include
Plasmodium relictum (usually not
causing
malaria in the Peregrine Falcon),
Strigeidae trematodes,
Serratospiculum amaculata
(
nematode), and
tapeworms. Known Peregrine Falcon
ectoparasites are
chewing lice Ceratophyllus garei (a
flea), and
Hippoboscidae
flies (
Icosta nigra,
Ornithoctona
erythrocephala).
Feeding
The Peregrine Falcon feeds almost exclusively on medium sized birds
such as
doves,
waterfowl,
songbirds,
waders and
pigeons.
Worldwide, it is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 bird
species (up to roughly a fifth of the world's bird species) are
predated by these falcons. In
North
America, prey has varied in size from 3-g
hummingbirds to a 3.1-kg
Sandhill Crane (killed by a peregrine in a
swoop). Other than bats taken at night, it rarely hunts small
mammals, but will on occasion take
rats,
voles,
hares,
mice and
squirrels; the
coastal populations of the large subspecies
pealei feed
almost exclusively on
seabirds.
In the Brazilian
mangrove swamp of Cubatão
, a wintering falcon of the subspecies
tundrius was observed while successfully hunting a
juvenile Scarlet Ibis. Insects
and reptiles make up a small proportion of the diet, which varies
greatly depending on what prey is available. In urban areas, the
main item of the Peregrine's diet is the
Rock or
Feral
Pigeon, which comprise 80% or more of the dietary intake for
peregrines in some cities. Other common city birds are also taken
regularly, such as
Mourning Doves,
Common Swifts,
Northern Flickers,
Common Starlings,
American Robins and various
corvids.
The Peregrine Falcon hunts at dawn and dusk, when prey are most
active, but in cities also nocturnally, particularly during
migration periods when hunting at night may become prevalent.
Nocturnal migrants taken by Peregrines include species as diverse
as
Yellow-billed Cuckoo,
Black-necked Grebe,
Virginia Rail and
Common Quail. It requires open space in order
to hunt, and therefore often hunts over open water,
marshes,
valleys, fields and
tundra. It searches for prey either from a
high perch or from the air. Once prey is spotted, it begins its
stoop, folding back the tail and wings, with feet tucked. The air
pressure from a dive could possibly damage a bird's
lungs, but small bony tubercles in a falcon's nostrils
guide the
shock waves of the air entering
the nostrils (compare
intake ramps and
inlet cones of
jet
engines), enabling the bird to breathe more easily while diving
by reducing the change in air pressure. To protect their eyes, the
falcons use their
nictitating
membranes (third eyelids) to spread tears and clear debris from
their eyes while maintaining vision. Prey is struck and captured in
mid-air; the Peregrine Falcon strikes its prey with a clenched
foot, stunning or killing it, then turns to catch it in mid-air.
The Peregrine will drop it to the ground and eat it there if it is
too heavy to carry. Prey is plucked before consumption.
Reproduction
The Peregrine Falcon is sexually mature at the end of the first
year of age but in healthy populations they breed after two to
three years of age. The pair mates for life and returns to the same
nesting spot annually. The courtship flight includes a mix of
aerial acrobatics, precise spirals, and steep dives. The male
passes prey it has caught to the female in mid-air. To make this
possible, the female actually flies upside-down to receive the food
from the male's talons. The Peregrine Falcon is territorial during
the breeding season; nesting pairs are usually more than 1 km
(0.6 miles) apart, and often much farther, even in areas with
large numbers of pairs. The distance between nests ensures
sufficient food supply for pairs and their chicks. Within a
breeding territory, a pair may have several nesting ledges; the
number used by a pair can vary from one or two to seven in a
16 year period. The pair defends the chosen nest site against
other Peregrines, and often against
ravens,
herons,
gulls and (in
ground nest) mammals like
foxes,
wolverines,
felids,
bears and
wolves. Both nests
and (less frequently) adults are predated by larger-bodied
raptorial birds like
eagles, large
owl, or
Gyrfalcons.
Peregrines defending their nests have managed to kill raptors as
large as
Golden Eagles and
Bald Eagles (which they normally avoid) that have
come close to the nest.
The Peregrine Falcon nests in a scrape, normally on cliff edges or,
today regularly in many parts of its range, on tall buildings or
bridges. Cliff nests are generally located under an overhang, on
ledges with vegetation, and south-facing sites are favored. In some
regions, as in parts of
Australia and on
the west coast of Northern North-America, large tree hollows are
used for nesting. Before the demise of most European peregrines,
there was a large population of peregrines in central and western
Europe using the disused nests of other large birds. The female
chooses a nest site, where she scrapes a shallow hollow in the
loose soil, sand, gravel, or dead vegetation in which to lay eggs.
No nest materials are added. In remote, undisturbed areas such as
the Arctic, steep slopes and even low rocks and mounds may be used
as nest sites. The human-made structures used for breeding closely
resemble the natural cliff ledges that the Peregrine prefers for
its nesting locations.

Chick
Mostly three to four eggs (range 1-5) are laid in the scrape. The
eggs are white to buff with red or brown markings. They are
incubated for 29 to 33 days, mainly by the female. The male also
helps with the incubation of the eggs over day, but at night only
the female incubates.
The date of egg-laying varies according to
locality, but is generally from February to March in the Northern
Hemisphere
, and from July to August in the Southern
Hemisphere
(the Australian subspecies macropus may
breed as late as November and equatorial
populations may nest anytime between June and December). The
female generally lays another clutch if the eggs are lost early in
the nesting season, though this is extremely rare in the Arctic
owing to the short summer season. As a result of some infertile
eggs and natural losses of nestlings, the average number of young
found in nests is 2.5, and the average number that fledges is about
1.5.
After hatching, the eyases, or chicks, are covered with
creamy-white down and have disproportionately large feet. The male,
which is called the "tiercel", brings food to the female and
chicks, but the chicks are fed by the female, which stays at the
nest and watches the young. The hunting territory of the parents
can extend a radius of 19 to 24 km (12–15 miles) from the nest
site. Chicks fledge 42 to 46 days after hatching, and remain
dependent on their parents for up to two months.
Relationship with humans
Pesticides
The Peregrine Falcon became an endangered species because of the
use of pesticides, especially
DDT during the
1950s, 60s, and 70s. Pesticide
biomagnification caused
organochlorine to build up in the falcons'
fat tissues, reducing the amount of calcium in their eggshells.
With thinner shells, fewer falcon eggs survived to hatching.
In
several parts of the world, such as the eastern USA and Belgium
, this species became extinct
as a result.
Illegal collectors
Peregrine eggs and chicks are often targeted by
black marketeers and unscrupulous
egg collectors, so it is normal
practice not to publicize unprotected nest locations.
Falconry
The Peregrine Falcon was used in
falconry
for more than 3,000 years, beginning with nomads in central Asia.
Due to its ability to dive at high speeds, it was highly
sought-after and generally used by experienced falconers. Peregrine
Falcons are also occasionally used to scare away birds at airports
to reduce the risk of
bird-plane
strikes, improving air-traffic safety, and were used to
intercept homing pigeons during World War II.
Recovery efforts
In the
USA
, Canada
, Germany
and Poland
, Wildlife
services in Peregrine Falcon recovery teams breed the species in
captivity. The chicks are usually fed through a chute or
with a
hand puppet mimicking a
Peregrine's head, so they cannot see to
imprint on the human trainers. Then,
when they are old enough, the rearing box is opened, allowing the
bird to train its wings. As the fledgling gets stronger, feeding is
reduced forcing the bird to learn to hunt. This procedure is called
hacking back to the wild. To release
a captive-bred falcon, the bird is placed in a special cage at the
top of a tower or cliff ledge for some days or so, allowing it to
acclimate itself to its future environment.Worldwide recovery
efforts have been remarkably successful. The widespread restriction
of DDT use eventually allowed released birds to breed successfully.
The
Peregrine Falcon was removed from the U.S.
Endangered Species list on August
25, 1999.
Current status
In the USA
Many Peregrine Falcons have settled in large cities, nesting on
cathedrals,
skyscraper window ledges, and the towers of
suspension bridges.
As early as 1946,
Peregrine Falcons were nesting atop Philadelphia
City Hall
, which is believed to be among the first artificial
structures in the world to be used as a nest site by this
species. In Virginia
, state officials working with students from the
Center for Conservation Biology of the College of
William and Mary
in Williamsburg
successfully established nesting boxes high
atop the George
P. Coleman Memorial Bridge on
the York River, the Benjamin
Harrison Memorial Bridge
and Varina-Enon
Bridge on the James
River, and at other similar locations. Thirteen new
chicks were hatched in this Virginia program during a recent year.
Over 250 falcons have been released through the Virginia program.
The
New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation reported that
there were 67 pairs of peregrine falcons in the state during
2008.The Peregrine Falcon is the State Raptor of Idaho.
In Canada
Like in
the USA, Peregrine Falcons have moved into major Canadian
cities. In Hamilton
, there have been a pair of birds nesting on a ledge
overhanging a window of the downtown Sheraton hotel every year since
1994. The Hamilton Community Peregrine Project was setup in
1995 to observe the falcons and provide care should they need it.
This includes
banding birds that have
successfully
fledged and caring for birds
which crash onto the busy streets below the nest. They also have a
camera aimed at the nesting site, which can be viewed on their
website.
In Britain
In
Britain
, there has been a recovery of populations since the
crash of the 1960s. This has been greatly assisted by
conservation and protection work led by the
Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds. Peregrines now breed in many mountainous
and coastal areas, especially in the west and north, and nest in
some urban areas, capitalizing on the urban pigeon populations for
food.
Cultural references
References
- Beckstead, D. (2001)
- e.g. French faucon pèlerin,
German Wanderfalke, Italian
falco pellegrino, Polish sokół
wędrowny, Slovak sokol sťahovavý,
Swedish pilgrimsfalk
- Contra Helbig et al. (1994), Wink et
al. (1998). The supposed basal position of the hierofalcons was due
to them having a cytochrome b numt: see Wink & Sauer-Gürth (2000)
- Helbig et al. (1994), Wink et al. (1998)
- Helbig et al. (1994), Wink et al. (1998),
Griffiths (1999), Wink & Sauer-Gürth (2000), Groombridge et
al. (2002), Griffiths et al. (2004), Nittinger et
al. (2005)
- Vaurie (1961)
- American Ornithologists' Union (1910):p.164
- The shaheen (شاهین) of Arabic and Persian writers are
usually Barbary Falcons; those in Indian (शाहीन) and Pakistani
(شاہین) sources normally refer to peregrinator.
- Döttlinger & Nicholls (2005)
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources (2007)
- Also called "Kleinschmidt's Falcon", but this might equally
refer to F. p. kleinschmidti which is a junior synonym of
japonensis,
- American Ornithologists' Union (1910):p.165
- Proctor, N. & Lynch, P. (1993):p.13
- Vaurie, 1961
- Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
levied a rent of these
birds on the Knights Hospitaller when he donated the
Island of Malta to them.
Source of the name for Dashiell Hammett's novel.
- Mayr (1941)
- Peters, J. L.; Mayr, E. & Cottrell, W. (1979):p.423
- Döttlinger, 2002
- (Vaurie, 1961)
- Blondel (1999)
- Helbig et al. (1994)
- Wink et al. (1998)
- Wink & Sauer-Gürth (2000)
- Wink et al. (2004)
- Tucker (1998)
- Colpocephalum falconii which was described from
specimens found on the Peregrine Falcon, Colpocephalum
subzerafae, Colpocephalum zerafae and Nosopon
lucidum (all Menoponidae), Degeeriella rufa
(Philopteridae), Laemobothrion
tinnunculi (Laemobothriidae). All are known from other
Falco species too.(Dewey & Potter 2002, Dagleish
2003)
- Raidal et al. (1999), Raidal & Jaensch (2000),
Dewey & Potter (2002), Dalgleish (2003)
-
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/660/articles/foodhabits
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
-
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/660/articles/behavior
- Peterson, R. T (1976):p.171
- Taken from http://www.raptorresource.org/facts.htm
- Towry (1987)
- Snow (1994)
- T. J. Cade, J. H. Enderson, C. G. Thelander & C. M. White
(Eds): Peregrine Falcon Populations – Their management and
recovery. The Peregrine Fund, Boise, Idaho, 1988. ISBN
0-9619839-0-6
- Brown (1976)
- Trade in wild-caught Peregrine Falcons and their eggs and young
is illegal in most jurisdictions. Falconers are advised to demand valid documentation
even if they are able to legally purchase this species.
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External links
- Conservation organizations
- Video and other media of Peregrines