Peregrine Falcon

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) occurs worldwide except Antarctica and is divided into nineteen subspecies; the name peregrine means wanderer, and the bird lives everywhere from desert and tundra to city centres. The head is black with a black malar stripe, the upperparts blue-black, the throat and underparts white with dark barring across breast and flanks; eyelids and cere are yellow and the iris dark brown. In its characteristic stoop it climbs high and dives steeply, striking one wing of its prey so as not to injure itself, and small bony tubercles in the nostrils are thought to manage the airflow and spare the lungs. In 1999 a bird named Frightful was recorded at 320 km/h, entering the Guinness records as the fastest bird in a dive. Organochlorine pesticides, especially DDT, caused steep declines from the 1950s to the 1970s, after which the DDT ban, protection of nest sites and releases brought recovery. In Japan the subspecies japonensis is listed as a nationally endangered species.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Peregrine Falcon lives 15-20 years.

The Peregrine Falcon grows to Males 38-45cm and females 46-51cm (wingspan 84-120cm, 0.5-1.3kg; females up to 30% larger than males).

Males are 38-45 cm long and females 46-51 cm, with a wingspan of 84-120 cm and a weight of 0.5-1.3 kg, the female up to 30 per cent larger though identically marked.