Peregrine Falcons, by Lena

All About Peregrine Falcons

By Lena

         Peregrine falcons have some very interesting behavior.At around six weeks old, they take flight for the first time. Adult falcons “bait” them by taking meat and flying with it so the younger falcons will follow. A juvenile falcon is called an eyas, or a nestling. Eyas eat a lot of food, and they double their weight in a week. Both the male and the female help take care of the babies. Their nest is basically a small hole in the ground. To catch prey, they go really high up and dive, knocking their prey out of the air.                 

                                   

         Peregrine falcons’ main threats are humans.

In the 1960’s, a pesticide called DDT was making their egg shells so thin,  the females crushed the eggs when they sat on them.

 Peregrine falcons have very cool markings and features. They have pointed beaks with pointed wings for diving, and dark blue feathers around the eyes. They are covered in white fluff when they get incubated, but it turns to feathers in three to five weeks.They are pretty much the same size and weight of crows.

         They eat ducks, pigeons, pheasants, and many other things.

         Here are some extra facts about them: When falcons are 21 days old, biologists see if they’re male or female and they put a metal band on them to track the falcon. The nest usually holds three to four eggs, which are incubated in around 33 days. They can live up to 15 years. They begin breeding when they are just two years old. Peregrine falcons have about a 200 mile per hour dive and approximately 62 mile per hour level flight. (at the most)

Falco Peregrinus is the scientific name of the Peregrine falcon, which means “falcon wanderer.”

 F.p. peale, which is found from the coastal islands off Alaska, F.p. tundrius, which nests in the trees in the Arctic, and F.p. anatum which ranged from coast to coast are all subspecies recognized in the same continent.