I feel the need...the need for speed!

Ahhh the speedster of which I’m talking about our good friend, Falco peregrinus better known to most people as the peregrine falcon. They are the fastest travelling animal in the world (things like mantis shrimp’s punches don’t count here), the official record speed being 389km/hour and higher estimates of up to 440kms/hour(Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001, National Geographic (2007)! They have been a part of human history for thousands of years and now resides in many urban cities. One of the most geographically widespread bird of prey in the world, F.peregrinus populations in different regions vary quite a bit in their migration patterns. Tropical and lower-altitude populations are mostly sedentary while some more temperate populations can migrate medium to very long distances (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). Their geographically wide distribution led to more than 25 subspecies/races being classified around the world (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001, Bell et al., 2014).

Fig.1 Distribution map of F. peregrinus darker shades indicate higher density (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001).

Fig.2 Stages of dive of F.peregrinus(Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001)

F.peregrinus’ diet almost consists entirely of birds, hunting by either an aerial chase or more famously by diving onto its prey in a number of different strategies (Zoratto et al., 2010, National Geographic, 2013). Their prey choice can be quite different depending on the habitat they live in, they’re known to hunt up to 1000+ species of birds worldwide including other raptors and some birds 2-3 times their weight, there’s also the occasional cannibalism as well as rabbits, hares, reptiles and amphibians (Ferguson-Lees and Christie, 2001). These guys may sound successful enough but were once heavily affected by pesticides like DDT which ravaged their populations to the point of being listed as endangered by weakening the shell of eggs (Ratcliffe, 1967, Hickey and Anderson, 1968, Smith et al., 2015). But conservation efforts and the ban of DDT have proved fruitful and allowed peregrine populations to recover and they can now again be found in many places, even bustling cities like New York City (NYC Environmental Protection, 2015).

So next time you head out, try and look up towards the cliffs and skyscrapers and maybe catch a glimpse of these speedsters

BELL, D. A., GRIFFITHS, C. S., CABALLERO, I. C., HARTLEY, R. R. & LAWSON, R. H. 2014. Genetic Evidence for Global Dispersal in the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and Affinity with the Taita Falcon (Falco fasciinucha). Journal of Raptor Research, 48, 44-53.

FERGUSON-LEES, J. & CHRISTIE, D. A. 2001. Raptors of the world, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. 2007. High-Velocity Falcons. National Geographic.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. 2013. World's Deadliest: Superfast Flyer Makes a Kill.

HICKEY, J. J. & ANDERSON, D. W. 1968. Chlorinated Hydrocarbons and Eggshell Changes in Raptorial and Fish-Eating Birds. Science, 162, 271-273.

PROTECTION, N. E. 2015. Peregrine Falcons in New York City [Online]. New York City: NYC Environmental Protection. Available: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/news/falcon.shtml.

RATCLIFFE, D. A. 1967. Decrease in Eggshell Weight in Certain Birds of Prey. Nature, 215, 208-210.

SMITH, G., MURILLO-GARCÍA, O., HOSTETLER, J., MEARNS, R., ROLLIE, C., NEWTON, I., MCGRADY, M. & OLI, M. 2015. Demography of population recovery: survival and fidelity of peregrine falcons at various stages of population recovery. Oecologia, 1-11.

ZORATTO, F., CARERE, C., CHIAROTTI, F., SANTUCCI, D. & ALLEVA, E. 2010. Aerial hunting behaviour and predation success by peregrine falcons Falco peregrinus on starling flocks Sturnus vulgaris. Journal of Avian Biology, 41, 427-433.