Cheetahs Got Nothing on Me
When the subject of fast animals is brought up, a lot of people think the cheetah is the champion of speed. With an estimated top speed of 60 to 70 miles per hour, the cheetah is probably the fastest animal on turf, but it looks like a tortoise in quicksand compared to a diving peregrine falcon.
While flying, peregrine falcons can reach about the same speed as a running cheetah, but when these birds dive, they can light up the radar gun with speeds up to 200 miles per hour. These agile aviators dine mostly on other birds and bats, which means they must be quick to catch their chow. Peregrine falcons hover high above their targets before plunging with their wings at their sides and snatching the prey.
Depending on the season, you have a chance to see a peregrine falcon nearly anywhere in North America, even around large cities. You’ll need a sharp eye to see one on the move, unless it has been pulled over for a speeding ticket.
When you look, you see. But it might be blurry.
Since peregrine falcons need a height advantage to swoop down on their prey, they often live in places with lots of room to move like mountain ranges or the Grand Canyon, where about 200 peregrine falcons nest.
If you get to see a peregrine falcon in one of those habitats, it will be quite a treat. Fortunately, even if you live in a city, you’ve got just as good a chance to see one of these spectacular birds. In fact, it might be even easier to see them in the city since they like to hunt from the heights of the skyscrapers and a lot of the birds they eat are in the city, like pigeons. Want some examples?
A pair of falcons have set up shop on the 300+ foot tall bell tower at the University of California at Berkeley. The university has set up webcams so you can keep an eye on the “Cal Falcons” whenever you want!
https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu/webcams/
In downtown Baltimore, Maryland, the Chesapeake Conservancy has set up a live webcam so we can watch “Boh & Barb,” the peregrine falcon couple who live on the 33rd floor of the Transamerica building.
https://chesapeakeconservancy.org/what-we-do/explore/wildlife-webcams/peregrine-falcon/
Down at the University of Texas, you can keep a virtual eye on “Tower Girl,” a female peregrine falcon who lives atop the 302-foot University of Texas Tower.
https://biodiversity.utexas.edu/resources/falcon-cam
On top of the Riverfront Plaza building in downtown Richmond, Virginia, “Ozzie and Harriet” have made a peregrine falcon home high above the city of Richmond.
https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/falcon-cam/
The National Aviary has a nest camera set up high on the side of the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. They have had peregrine falcons nesting there since 2002.
http://www.aviary.org/PF-NestCam1
These are just a few examples of well-known city-dwelling peregrine falcons. The live cams are cool, but if you have a chance to see any of these birds in person, it is way cooler!
It is awesome that we get to see peregrine falcons at all, because these birds were on the Endangered Species list from 1970 to 1999. In 1975, there were less than 700 peregrine falcons left in the United States, primarily as a result of the use of the pesticide known as DDT. Fortunately, they have made a comeback and we all get to enjoy watching these rapid raptors racing across the sky.
Time for a pit stop.
All that speed got you winded? Pull over and relax with some more cool info about peregrine falcons.
Kids, remember to ask a parent, teacher, or librarian for help whenever you are looking for books or using the Internet. I always try to make sure to share kid-friendly books and resources, but websites are changing all the time, so always check with an adult first.
- National Geographic has a super-cool video where trainers attached a camera to the back of a peregrine falcon, so we can all get an idea of what it’s like to be one of the fastest animals in the world. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/p/peregrine-falcon/
- eBird is a citizen science project where birdwatchers log the when, what, where, and how of birds they’ve sighted and share that information with scientists and other bird lovers. On the eBird Peregrine Falcon page, you can see a map of peregrine falcon sightings, photographs, audio recordings, and videos! https://ebird.org/species/perfal
- Chris Earley’s book, Falcons in the City: The Story of a Peregrine Family, tells the true story of a family of peregrine falcons living in a flower box atop a Chicago high-rise. The book takes you from the moment four eggs were laid until the youngsters were ready to fly and includes cool facts about peregrine falcons and lots of great photos of the growing family. Ask your librarian for a copy or check with an adult to see if they’d like to pick up a copy at your local bookstore. I’ve included a link to help them find it: https://bookstorelink.com/9781770858039
- HawkWatch is an organization which focuses on conservation of raptors like the peregrine falcon, and one of the ways they do that is by monitoring populations and educating volunteers on how to identify raptors. Their fact sheet on peregrine falcons has tons of great information on how to identify them in flight and at rest. One of the cool features are the silhouette images which give you an idea of how a peregrine falcon looks when you are looking up at one in the sky at a distance. https://hawkwatch.org/learn/factsheets/item/103-peregrine-falcon