Falco peregrinus
The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a species of falconiform bird of the family Falconidae with a cosmopolitan distribution. It is a large, crow-sized hawk with a bluish-gray back and whitish underside with dark spots; The head is black and has a wide and characteristic mustache, also black. It does not normally fly at speeds greater than 100 km/h, but in a dive or when hunting and performing a dive attack it can reach over 300 km/h, making it the fastest animal in the world. As in other birds of prey, the female is much larger than the male. Various authorities recognize seventeen or nineteen subspecies, which vary in appearance and habitat; there is disagreement as to whether the tagarote falcon (Falco pelegrinoides) is a subspecies or a separate species.
The geographic distribution of their breeding areas ranges from the arctic tundra to southern America. It can be found almost everywhere on Earth, except in extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and tropical jungles; the only large ice-free land area from which it is completely absent is New Zealand, making it the world's most widespread bird of prey. Both the scientific name and the Spanish name of this species mean "traveling hawk", because of the migratory habits of many northern populations.
Although its diet consists almost exclusively of medium-sized birds, it occasionally hunts small mammals, small reptiles, and even insects. It reaches sexual maturity in one year and mates for life. It nests in small cavities in the ground without contributing any material, usually on cliff edges or, in recent times, on elevated structures built by humans. The peregrine falcon has become an endangered species in many areas due to the use of pesticides. especially DDT. Since the ban on DDT in the early 1970s, populations have rebounded, supported by large-scale protection of their nesting grounds and release of individuals into the wild.
Description
Its body length varies between 34 and 58 cm, and its wingspan is between 80 and 120 cm. Its thin, pointed wings give it a good lift. Males and females have similar plumage and markings, but, like other birds of prey, show marked sexual dimorphism in size, with the female being 30% larger than the male. Males weigh between 440 and 750 g., while females, considerably larger, weigh between 910 and 1500 g.
The back and long, pointed wings of adults are generally bluish-black to slate-grey with indistinct dark bars; wingtips are black. Belly and underwings vary from white to rusty with fine clean dark brown or black bars. Tail, colored like back but with fine clean bars, is long, narrow and rounded at the end with a black tip and a white band at its end. The upper part of the head, along with its wide whisker along the cheeks, is black, contrasting sharply with the pale sides of the neck and white throat. The cere is yellow, like the legs and bill, and the talons are black. The upper bill is serrated near the tip, an adaptation that allows falcons to kill their prey by severing the spine at the neck. underside streaked, rather than barred, and have pale bluish cere.
Taxonomy and systematics
This species was first described by Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771 Ornithologia Britannica under its current binomial nomenclature. The scientific name Falco peregrinus, means "traveling falcon". or "nomadic falcon" in Latin. Indeed, the common name of the species refers to its migratory habits in most European languages. The Latin term for falcon, falco, It is related to falx, which is Latin for sickle, referring to the silhouette of the long, pointed wings of the falcon in flight.
The peregrine falcon belongs to a genus whose ancestry includes the subgenus Hierofalco and the Mexican falcon (F. mexicanus). This lineage probably diverged from other hawks towards the end of the Late Miocene or Early Miocene, approximately five to eight million years ago. As the peregrine-hierofalcon group includes both Old World and North American species, it is likely that the lineage came from western Eurasia or Africa. Its relationship to other hawks is unclear; the issue is complicated by extensive hybridization confounding mitochondrial DNA sequence analyses.
Nowadays it is regularly crossed in captivity with other species such as the borni falcon (F. biarmicus) to produce a hybrid bird that enjoys some popularity in falconry by combining the peregrine's hunting ability with the strength of the borni; or with the gyrfalcon, to produce large birds of surprising colors.
Subspecies
Numerous subspecies of the peregrine falcon have been described, although scientists and research agencies differ on how many are valid. Some are sometimes taken as different species, and others as simple races. Normally between sixteen and nineteen subspecies are accepted, depending on the authors. This article describes the nineteen accepted in the Handbook of the Birds of the World.
The subspecies Falco peregrinus peregrinus, described by Tunstall in 1771, breeds in most of temperate Eurasia between the northern tundra and the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean region and the alpine belt in the south. It is mainly non-migratory in Europe, but migratory in Scandinavia and Asia. Males weigh 580-750 g, while females weigh 925-1,300 g. Also includes proposed subspecies brevirostris, germanicus, rhenanus and riphaeus.
Falco peregrinus calidus, described by Latham in 1790, formerly called leucogenys, includes caeruleiceps. It breeds in the arctic tundra of Eurasia, from Murmansk Oblast to about the Yana and Indigirka rivers in Siberia. It is fully migratory, traveling south in winter to sub-Saharan Africa. It is paler than peregrinus, especially in the crown. Males weigh 588-740 g and females 925-1,333 g.
Falco peregrinus japonensis, described by Gmelin in 1788, includes kleinschmidti and pleskei, and it appears that harterti it is an intermediate subspecies with calidus, although some sources consider it a synonym of japonensis, and others a valid and independent subspecies. It is found from northeastern Siberia to Kamchatka (though possibly replaced there by pealei on the coast) and Japan. Northern populations are migratory while those in Japan are resident. It is similar to the peregrinus, but the young are even darker than the anatum.
Falco peregrinus macropus, described by Swainson in 1837, is known as the Australian peregrine falcon. It is found in all regions of Australia except the South West. It is not migratory. It is similar to brookei in appearance, but is slightly smaller and the ear region is completely black. The feet are proportionally large.
Falco peregrinus submelanogenys, described by Mathews in 1912, is the southwestern Australian peregrine falcon. It can be found in southwestern Australia and is non-migratory.
Falco peregrinus peregrinator, described by Sundevall in 1837, is known as the Indian peregrine falcon, black shaheen, or Indian shaheen. It was sometimes known as Falco atriceps or Falco shaheen. Its geographic range includes South Asia from Pakistan through India to Sri Lanka and southeast China; in Pakistan it is the military symbol of the Pakistan Air Force. It is not migratory. Its body is small and dark, with the ventral part barred with a lighter color. In Sri Lanka this species is found on the higher foothills while the migratory calidus is seen more often along the coast. An estimated population of 40 breeding pairs was recorded in Sri Lanka in 1996.
Falco peregrinus anatum, described by Bonaparte in 1838, is known as the American peregrine falcon; its scientific name means "duck peregrine falcon". At times, it was partly included in leucogenys. Today it is found mainly in the Rockies. It was a common subspecies throughout North America between the tundra and northern Mexico, where reintroduction efforts are currently underway to try to restore its population. It appears that most of the vagrants reaching western Europe belong to the northernmost and strongly migratory tundrius, considered a distinct species only since 1968. Similar to peregrinus, but slightly smaller; the adults are somewhat paler and less decorated on the ventral part, but the young are darker and more decorated on the chest. Males weigh 500-570 g, while females weigh 900-960 g.
Falco peregrinus cassini, described by Sharpe in 1873, is known as the southern peregrine falcon. Includes kreyenborgi, the pallid hawk, a polymorphous leucism occurring in southern South America, long considered a distinct species. Its geographic range includes South America from Ecuador through Bolivia, northern Argentina and Chile to Tierra del Fuego and Malvinas Islands. It is not migratory. It is similar to peregrinus, but slightly smaller and with the region of the ears black. The kreyenborgi variant is gray above, has few bars on the breast, and has a head pattern like the Saker Falcon (F. cherrug), but the ear region is white.
Falco peregrinus pealei, described by Ridgway in 1873, is also known as Peale's hawk, and includes rudolfi. Found in northwestern North America, north of Puget Sound along the coast of British Columbia (including the Queen Charlotte Islands), along the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the eastern shore of the Bering Sea in Russia. It is possible to find it on the Kuril Islands and also on the coasts of the Kamchatka peninsula. It is not migratory. It is the largest subspecies and resembles the large and darker tundrius and the equally large and abundantly barred anatum. Its bill is very broad. The young sometimes have pale crowns.
Falco peregrinus tundrius, described by C. M. White in 1968, was for a time included in leucogenys. It can be observed from the arctic tundra of North America to Greenland. Migrates to winter in Central and South America. Most of the vagrants that reach western Europe belong to this subspecies, which was previously united with anatum. It is the equivalent of calidus in the New World. Its size is smaller and lighter in color than anatum; most have a white forehead and ear region, but the crown and mustache are very dark, unlike those of calidus. Juveniles are browner and less gray than calidus and paler, sometimes almost sandy, than anatum.
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Falco peregrinus madens, described by Ripley and Watson in 1963, has unusual sexual dichromatism. If the tagarote falcon is considered a separate species, it is sometimes placed with it. At other times it is considered an independent species (F. madens). It can be found on the Cape Verde Islands and is not migratory; it is in danger of extinction, with only six or eight surviving pairs. Males have reddish-brown coating on crown, nape, ears, and back; below are conspicuously pinkish brown. Females are deep brown throughout the body, especially on the crown and nape.
Falco peregrinus minor, first described by Bonaparte in 1850. It was previously included in perconfusus. It is scattered throughout most of Africa sub-Saharan and widespread in South Africa. Sometimes it goes as far north along the Atlantic coast as far as Morocco. It is not migratory. It is small in size and dark in color.
Falco peregrinus radama, described by Hartlaub in 1861, is found in Madagascar and Comores. It is not migratory.
Falco peregrinus brookei, described by Sharpe in 1873, known as the Mediterranean peregrine falcon or Maltese falcon. Includes caucasicus and most specimens of the race proposed punicus, although others may be pelegrinoides, tagarotes or perhaps the rare hybrids between these two that could occur around Algeria. They are seen from the Iberian Peninsula, around the Mediterranean, except in arid regions, to the Caucasus. They are not migratory. It is smaller than the proposed subspecies, and the underparts are usually rusty in color. Males weigh approximately 445 g, while females weigh up to 920 g.
Falco peregrinus ernesti, described by Sharpe in 1894, is found from Indonesia to the Philippines and south to Papua New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Their geographic separation from nesiotes is pending confirmation. It is not migratory. It differs from the proposed species by its very dark colouring, being heavily barred on the breast, and by the black covering of the ears.
Falco peregrinus furuitii, described by Momiyama in 1927, is found in the Izu and Ogasawara archipelagos. It is not migratory. It is very rare and may only survive on an island. It is a dark form, similar to pealei in color but darker, especially on the tail.
Falco peregrinus nesiotes, described by Mayr in 1941, is found in Fiji and probably also in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It is not migratory.
Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides, first described by Temminck in 1829, is found from the Canary Islands through North Africa and the Near East to Mesopotamia. Very similar to brookei, but markedly paler on back, with a rust-colored neck and a shiny body with lightly barred underparts. It is smaller than the proposed subspecies; females weigh around 610 g.
Falco peregrinus babylonicus, described by Sclater in 1861, is found in eastern Iran along the Hindu Kush and Tian Shan to the Altai Mountains. It is paler than pelegrinoides and somewhat similar to the small pale borni falcon. It is smaller than the peregrine falcon; males weigh 330-400 g, while females weigh 513-765 g.
The latter two subspecies are often grouped together as a different species, the tagarote falcon (Falco pelegrinoides). There is a genetic distance of 0.6-0.7% in the peregrine- Tagarote. These birds inhabit arid regions from the Canary Islands along the edge of the Sahara through the Middle East to Central Asia and Mongolia. They have a red neck patch, but otherwise differ in appearance from the proposed peregrine simply according to Gloger's rule. The tagarote has a peculiar way of flying, flapping only the outer part of its wings as storm petrels sometimes do; this also occurs with the peregrine, but to a lesser extent and less pronounced. The tagarote's pelvic and shoulder bones are strong compared to those of the peregrine, and their legs are smaller. They have no reproductive barrier. postzygotic, (i.e., they can biologically reproduce successfully with peregrinus) but breed at different times of the year than their neighboring peregrine falcon subspecies.
Ecology and behavior
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It lives mainly along mountain ranges, river valleys, coastlines, and increasingly in cities. In regions with mild winters it usually becomes a permanent resident and some individuals, mainly adult males, will remain in the wild. breeding territory. Populations that breed in arctic climates migrate great distances south during the winter. It is often cited as the fastest animal on the planet when it performs its swooping flights to hunt, which involves soaring to a great height and then dive downward at speeds typically in excess of 300 km/h, and strike a wing of its prey to avoid damage on impact. A study on the physics of the flight of a hypothetical "ideal hawk" set a speed limit theoretical 400 km/h for low altitude flight and 625 km/h for high altitude flight. In 2005, a falcon was recorded performing a swooping flight at a top speed of 389 km/h.
Their life expectancy in the wild is up to 15.5 years. The mortality rate in their first year of life is between 59 and 70%, decreasing to 25-32% in adults. Apart from anthropogenic threats such as collision with human-made objects, the peregrine falcon can be hunted by great eagles or great owls. It is host to a wide variety of parasites and pathogens. It is a vector for poxviruses, Newcastle disease virus, falconid herpesvirus 1 (and possibly other herpesviruses), and some mycoses and bacterial infections. Endoparasites include Plasmodium relictum (does not usually cause malaria in peregrine falcons), Strigeidae flukes, Serratospiculum amaculata (nematode), and tapeworms. Known ectoparasites of these birds are malophagous lice, Ceratophyllus garei (a flea) and Hippoboscidae flies (Icosta nigra, Ornithoctona erythrocephala).
Food
The peregrine falcon feeds almost exclusively on medium-sized birds such as ducks, gulls, songbirds, and doves. Other than bats hunted at night, this falcon rarely hunts small mammals, but occasionally takes rats, hares, mice and squirrels; coastal populations of subspecies pealei feed almost exclusively on seabirds. In the Brazilian mangrove swamp of Cubatão, a wintering falcon of subspecies tundrius was observed successfully hunting a young scarlet ibis. Insects and reptiles are only a small part of their diet, which varies greatly depending on the availability of prey. In urban areas, their main prey is the rock pigeon, followed by other common city birds, such as the common starling and the common swift.
Hunts at dawn and dusk, when prey is most active, but also at night in cities; particularly during periods of migration is when night hunting becomes more frequent. Some nocturnal migratory species hunted by peregrine falcons include species as diverse as the yellow-billed cuckoo, black-necked grebe, Virginia rail, and common quail. Hunting requires open spaces, often over lakes, swamps, valleys, fields and tundra. Searches for prey from a high static position or from the air. Once prey is located, it begins its attack in a dive, folding back its tail and wings and keeping its legs close to its body. Atmospheric pressure at more than 300 km/h of speed could damage the bird's lungs, but small bony tubercles in the hawk's nostrils redirect shock waves from air entering the nostrils (such as the air intakes and intake cones of the jet engines), allowing the bird to breathe more easily while performing the dive by reducing the change in atmospheric pressure. To protect their eyes, hawks use their nictitating membranes ("third eyelids") to wipe away tears and protect the eyes by maintaining vision. The prey is struck and caught in the air; strikes its prey with a clenched claw, stunning or killing it, then turns to catch it in the air. If the prey is too heavy for it, it drops it to the ground. Pluck prey before eating it.
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It is sexually mature at the end of its first year of life, but in healthy populations it reproduces after reaching two or three years of age. They mate for life, returning to the same nest each year. Courtship flight includes a mix of aerobatics, precise spirals, and figure-of-eight flights. The male passes a captured prey to the female while they are still airborne, and in order to do so, the female literally flies up. "upside down" to receive food from the male's claws. The peregrine falcon is territorial during the breeding season; nesting pairs are usually more than a kilometer apart and often much farther, even in areas with large numbers of pairs. The distance between nests ensures sufficient food supplies for parents and their offspring. pups. Within a breeding territory, a pair may have several nesting sites; the number of nests per pair can vary from one or two to seven in a sixteen-year period. The pair defends their chosen nest site by fighting other peregrines and often eagles or ravens.
They nest in small ledges or cavities in the ground, usually on cliff edges or, as is now the case in many places, in tall buildings or bridges. Cliff nests are generally located under an overhang, on vegetated ledges, preferably facing south. In some regions, such as parts of Australia and the west coast of northern North America, holes in large trees are used. to nest. Before the disappearance of most European peregrines, there was a sizeable population of these falcons in Central and Western Europe, using the disused nests of other large birds. The female selects a nesting site, digging a shallow hole. on loose ground, sand, gravel, or dead vegetation to lay eggs. No nest building material is added. In remote and undisturbed areas, such as the Arctic, stepped slopes and even low rocks and mounds may be used as nesting sites. The human-built structures used for breeding closely resemble the natural cliff ledges that peregrine falcons prefer for their nest locations.
Clutches are generally three or four eggs (range is between 1 and 6). Eggs are, depending on the species, white to reddish-yellow in color with red or brown markings. They are incubated for about 29 to 33 days, mainly by the female. The male also helps with the incubation of the eggs throughout the day, but at night only the female does. The spawning date varies by location, but is generally from February to March in the Northern Hemisphere and from July to August in the Southern Hemisphere (the Australian subspecies macropus can breed as late as November and populations equatorials can nest anytime between June and December). Although pairs only breed once a year, the female usually makes another clutch if the eggs are lost early in the breeding season, except in arctic areas, due to their short summer. Taking into account the possibility of some sterile eggs and the natural losses of chicks, the average number of young that we can see in the nests is 2.5 and the average number that fledges is approximately 1.5.
After hatching, the chicks are covered in creamy white down and have disproportionately large feet. For the first 8 to 12 days the female covers the chicks permanently. The male is responsible for bringing them food the female and the young, but the chicks are fed by the female, who stays in the nest under her care. The hunting territory of the parents can extend in a radius of 19 to 24 km around the nest. Chicks fledge 42–46 days after hatching and are dependent on their parents for approximately two months.
Relationship with humans
The peregrine falcon became an endangered species due to the use of pesticides, most notably DDT, during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Biomagnification of the pesticide caused increases in organochlorines in the internal tissues of the falcons, reducing the amount of calcium present in the shell of their eggs. With thinner shells, fewer eggs survived hatching. As a consequence, this species became extinct in several parts of the world, such as the eastern United States and Belgium. Eggs and hatchlings are often targeted. from black market traders and unscrupulous egg collectors, so nature associations recommend against posting the positions of unprotected nesting sites.
The peregrine falcon has been used in falconry for more than 3,000 years, when nomads in Central Asia began using it. Due to its ability to dive at high speeds, it was highly sought after and often used by falconers with experience. During World War II they were used to intercept homing pigeons. They are also used on some occasions to scare birds away at airports and thus reduce the risk of their impacts against aircraft, improving air traffic safety. It is currently used as an alternative biological control system in agriculture, eradicating or reducing the number of other bird species that damage crops.
Efforts for your recovery and current situation
In countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany, and Poland, Peregrine Falcon recovery teams from Wildlife Services raise peregrine falcons in captivity. The chicks are usually fed through a chute or with a puppet that imitates the head of an adult hawk, so that they cannot see the breeders and thus avoid their imprinting with humans. When they are of the right age, their breeding cage is opened, allowing the bird to train its wings and, when strong enough, its diet is reduced to force the animal to teach itself to hunt. To release a captive-bred falcon, the bird is placed in a special cage on top of a tower or on a cliff ledge for a few days, allowing it to acclimate to its future environment. Worldwide recovery efforts have been remarkably successful. Restricting the use of DDT allowed released birds to breed with some success..
Many peregrine falcons have settled in large cities, nesting in cathedrals, skyscraper window ledges, and suspension bridge towers. For example, in Virginia, state officials working with students from The College of William and Mary's Center for Biological Conservation in Williamsburg successfully established roosts atop the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge across the York River Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge and Varina-Enon Bridge on the James River and at other similar locations. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reported that there were 67 pairs in the state during 2008. In the United Kingdom there was a population recovery since their fall in the 1960s, largely thanks to protection and conservation work led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and now breed in many montane and coastal areas, particularly in the West and North, and nest in some urban areas, taking advantage of the abundance of pigeons in the cities to feed themselves.;, promoted by the city council of this town, with the intention of recovering its presence in the city after its disappearance in 1973.
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