Peregrine Falcon - Fálco peregrinus
"A rare local falcon of coasts, mountains, and woods. Best field marks are facial pattern, dark cap, and large size. Flight is fast; only the Prairie Falcon is swifter. Rarely soars. It preys almost entirely on birds."
A Guide to Field Identification BIRDS of North America.
As I was driving Biggs Highway, ready to turn left onto Theodore Road I caught a glimpse of this fellow out of the corner of my eye on the right side of Biggs. I made the turn and cautiously continued the turn, rolling down the truck window and quickly sighting in the camera. Luckily I got these three photos before he disappeared.
More from Wikipedia:
The
Peregrine Falcon (
Falco peregrinus), also known as the
Peregrine,
[2] and historically as the
Duck Hawk in North America,
[3] is a widespread
bird of prey in the
family Falconidae. A large,
crow-sized
falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache". As is typical of
bird-eating raptors, Peregrine Falcons are
sexually dimorphic, females being considerably larger than males.
[4][5]
The Peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over 322 km/h
(200 mph) during its characteristic hunting stoop (high speed dive),
[6] making it the
fastest member of the animal kingdom.
[7][8] According to a
National Geographic TV programme, the highest measured speed of a Peregrine Falcon is 389 km/h (242 mph).
[9][10]
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
[11]
and one of the most widely found bird species. In fact, the only
land-based bird species found over a larger geographic area is not
always naturally occurring but one widely introduced by humans, the
Rock Pigeon, which in turn now supports many Peregrine populations as a prey species. Both the English and
scientific names of this
species mean "wandering falcon", referring to the
migratory habits of many northern populations.
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