The Peregrine Falcon. BY: Alicia Saichareune

Transcription

1 The Peregrine Falcon BY: Alicia Saichareune

2 Table of Contents Page 2: Peregrine Falcons are Fast! Page 3: Peregrine Falcons Return Page 4: Did you Know? Page 5: Comics Page 6: Falcon Facts Page 7: More Falcon Facts

3 Peregrine Falcons are Fast! Peregrine Falcons are the fastest birds in the world. They can dive as fast as 200mph. They eat small birds. If you were wondering why they dive, its because they dive like other bird when they want food. They also fly very slow. They have never been common birds. Peregrine falcons are predators. This means they capture and eat other animals. Most predators need a large space of land for hunting. As a result, they are rare.

4 Peregrine Falcons Return Once an endangered species, the peregrine falcon has made a comeback from the brink of extinction. The primary cause of their decline was DDT, a pesticide used during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s that caused the eggshells to weaken. The eggshells became very fragile. When the mother birds sat on them, they broke before the babies could hatch. Peregrine falcons nearly disappeared from parts of North America. By 1975 there were only 324 nesting pairs were left. The general use of the pesticide was banned in the United States in Since this ban, the peregrine falcon population has steadily increased. Now there are between 2,000 and 3,000 breeding pairs of American peregrine falcons in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. These speedy birds of prey have adapted to city environments and many nest in tall buildings. After significant recovery efforts, Peregrine Falcons have made an incredible rebound and are now regularly seen in many large cities and coastal areas.

5 Did you know? Did you know people have been using animals to hunt for thousands of years? One kind of hunting is called falconry. In falconry, hunters use trained birds to capture prey. How does this work? The hunters captured young birds from their nests. The Peregrine Falcon occurs almost worldwide on every continent except Antarctica. This medium size raptor has inspired awe throughout human history, and has been trained and used by man as an aerial hunter in the ancient art of Falconry. Nesting pairs were killed off east of the Mississippi, and the species was expected to go extinct in North America by Thanks to environmental laws helped with captive breeding programs and aggressive release programs. This bird has made a successful comeback for the falcons.

6

7 Falcon Facts THE PEREGRINE falcon's scientific name is Falco Peregrinus, which means Falcon Wanderer. Three subspecies are recognized in North America: F.P. Pealei from the coastal islands off Alaska; F.P. Tundrius, which nests above the tree line in the Arctic; and F.P. Anatum, which once ranged over North America from coast to coast. In the 1960s, scientists discovered that DDT was interfering in the egg shell formation of meat and fish eating birds. Healthy birds were laying eggs so thin they were crushed by the weight of the incubating adult. By 1965, no peregrine falcons were fledged in the eastern or Central United States. By 1968, the Peregrine population was completely eradicated east of the Mississippi River. In 1972, use of DDT was severely restricted in the United States and worldwide.

8 Powerful & Fast-Flying More Facts The Peregrine Falcon hunts medium-sized birds, dropping down on them from high above in a spectacular stoop. They were virtually eradicated from eastern North America by pesticide poisoning in the middle 20th century. After significant recovery efforts, Peregrine Falcons have made an incredible rebound and are now regularly seen in many large cities and coastal areas. Size & Shape Peregrine Falcons are the largest falcon over most of the continent, with long, pointed wings and a long tail. Be sure to look at shape as well as size long primary feathers give the Peregrine a long-winged shape. As with most raptors, males are smaller than females, so Peregrines can overlap with large female Merlins or small male Gyrfalcons.

9