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| Peregrine Falcon | ||||||||||||||
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 Adult of subspecies pealei ortundrius, Alaska | ||||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771 | ||||||||||||||
 Global range Yellow: Breeding summer visitor Green: Breeding resident Blue: Winter visitor Light blue: Passage visitor | ||||||||||||||
| Subspecies | ||||||||||||||
17-19, see text | ||||||||||||||
| Synonyms | ||||||||||||||
Falco atriceps Hume |
The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known simply as the Peregrine,[2] and historically as the "Duck Hawk" in North America,[3] is a cosmopolitan bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is a large,crow-sized falcon, with a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache". It has the ability to reach speeds over 322 km/h (200 mph), making it the fastest animal in the world.[4] As with other bird-eating raptors, the female is bigger than the male.[5][6] Authorities recognize 17–19subspecies, which vary in appearance and range; there is disagreement over whether the distinctiveBarbary Falcon is a subspecies or a distinct species.
The Peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the Tropics. It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, excepting extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropicalrainforests; the only major ice-free landmass from which it is entirely absent is New Zealand. This makes it the world's most widespread bird of prey.[7] Both the English and scientific names of this species mean "wandering falcon", referring to the migratory habits of many northern populations.
While its diet consists almost exclusively of medium-sized birds, the Peregrine will occasionally hunt small mammals, small reptiles or even insects. It reaches sexual maturity at one year, and mates for life. It nests in a scrape, normally on cliff edges or, in recent times on tall man-made structures.[8] The Peregrine Falcon became an endangered species due to the use of pesticides, especially DDT. Since the ban on DDT from the beginning of the 1970s onwards, the populations recovered, supported by large scale protection of nesting places and releases to the wild.[9]
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[edit]Description
The Peregrine Falcon has a body length of 34–50 cm (13–20 in) and a wingspan of around 80–120 cm (31–47 in).[5] The male and female have similar markings and plumage, but as in many birds of prey the Peregrine Falcon displays marked reverse sexual dimorphism in size, with the female measuring up to 30 percent larger than the male.[10] Males weigh 440–750 g, and the noticeably larger females weigh 910–1500 g; for variation in weight between subspecies, see under that section below.
The back and the long, pointed wings of the adult are usually bluish black to slate gray with indistinct darker barring (see "Subspecies" below); the wingtips are black.[11] The underparts are white to rusty and barred with thin clean bands of dark brown or black.[12] The tail, colored like the back but with thin clean bars, is long, narrow and rounded at the end with a black tip and a white band at the very end. The top of the head and a "mustache" along the cheeks are black, contrasting sharply with the pale sides of the neck and white throat.[13] The cere is yellow, as are the feet, and the beak and claws are black.[14] The upper beak is notched near the tip, an adaptation which enables falcons to kill prey by severing the spinal column at the neck.[4][5][6] The immature bird is much browner with streaked, rather than barred, underparts, and has a pale bluish cere.[5][13]
[edit]Taxonomy and systematics
This species was first described by Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771Ornithologia Britannica under its current binomial name.[15] The scientific name Falco peregrinus, means "wandering falcon" in Latin.[16] Indeed, the species' common name refers to its wide-ranging flights in most European languages.[17] The Latin term for falcon, falco, is related to falx, the Latin word meaning sickle, in reference to the silhouette of the falcon's long, pointed wings in flight.[4]
The Peregrine Falcon belongs to a genus whose lineage includes the hierofalcons[18] and the Prairie Falcon(F. mexicanus). This lineage probably diverged from other falcons towards the end of the Late Miocene or in the Early Pliocene, about 8–5 million years ago (mya). As the Peregrine-hierofalcon group includes bothOld World and North American species, it is likely that the lineage originated in western Eurasia or Africa. Its relationship to other falcons is not clear; the issue is complicated by widespread hybridization confounding mtDNA sequence analyses; for example a genetic lineage of the Saker Falcon (F. cherrug) is known[19] which originated from a male Saker producing fertile young with a female Peregrine ancestor some 100,000 years ago.[ref]
Today, Peregrines are regularly hybridized in captivity with other species such as the Lanner Falcon (F. biarmicus) to produce the "perilanner", a somewhat popular bird in falconry as it combines the Peregrine's hunting skill with the Lanner's hardiness, or the Gyrfalcon to produce large, strikingly-colored birds for the use of falconers. As can be seen, the Peregrine is still genetically close to the hierofalcons, though their lineages diverged in the Late Pliocene (maybe some 2.5–2 mya in the Gelasian).[20]
[edit]Subspecies
Numerous subspecies of the Peregrine have been described, with 19 accepted by the Handbook of the Birds of the World.[21][5][6] The nominate subspecies Falco peregrinus peregrinus, described byTunstall in 1771, breeds over much of temperate Eurasia between thetundra in the north and the Pyrenees, Mediterranean region andAlpide belt in the south.[22] It is mainly non-migratory in Europe, butmigratory in Scandinavia and Asia. Males weigh 580–750 g, while females weigh 925–1,300 g.[6] It includes brevirostris, germanicus,rhenanus, and riphaeus.
Falco peregrinus calidus, described by Latham in 1790, was formerly called leucogenys and includes caeruleiceps. It breeds in the Arctictundra of Eurasia, from Murmansk Oblast to roughly Yana andIndigirka Rivers, Siberia. It is completely migratory, and travels south in winter as far as sub-Saharan Africa. It is paler than peregrinus, especially on the crown. Males weigh 588–740 g, while females weigh 925–1,333 g.[6]
Falco peregrinus japonensis, described by Gmelin in 1788, includes kleinschmidti and pleskei, and harterti seems to refer to intergrades withcalidus. It is found from northeast Siberia to Kamchatka (though it is possibly replaced by pealei on coast there), and Japan. Northern populations are migratory, while those of Japan are resident. It is similar to peregrinus, but the young are even darker than those of anatum.
Falco peregrinus macropus, described by Swainson in 1837 is the Australian Peregrine Falcon. It is found in Australia in all regions except the southwest. It is non-migratory. It is similar to brookei in appearance, but is slightly smaller and the ear region is entirely black. The feet are proportionally large.[12]
Falco peregrinus submelanogenys described by Mathews in 1912, is the Southwest Australian Peregrine Falcon. It is found in southwest 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.[23] It was formerly sometimes known as Falco atriceps or Falco shaheen. Its range includes South Asia from Pakistan across India to Sri Lanka and Southeastern China; in Pakistan it is a military symbol of the Pakistan Air Force. It is non-migratory. It is small and dark, with rufous underparts barred with lighter color. In Sri Lanka this species is found to favour the higher hills while the migrant calidus is more often seen along the coast.[24]
Falco peregrinus anatum, described by Bonaparte in 1838,[22] is known as the American Peregrine Falcon, or "Duck Hawk"; its scientific name means "Duck Peregrine Falcon". At one time, it was partly included in leucogenys. It is mainly found in the Rocky Mountains today. It was formerly common throughout North America between the tundra and northern Mexico, where current reintroduction efforts seek to restore the population.[22] Most mature anatum, except those that breed in more northern areas, winter in their breeding range. Most vagrants that reach western Europe seem to belong to the more northern and strongly migratory tundrius, only considered distinct since 1968. It is similar toperegrinus but is slightly smaller; adults are somewhat paler and less patterned below, but juveniles are darker and more patterned below. Males weigh 500–570 g, while females weigh 900–960 g.[25][5]
Falco peregrinus cassini, described by Sharpe in 1873, is also known as the Austral Peregrine Falcon. It includes kreyenborgi, the Pallid Falcon[26] a leucistic morph occurring in southernmost South America, which was long believed to be a distinct species.[27] Its range includes South America from Ecuador through Bolivia, northern Argentina and Chile to Tierra del Fuego and Falkland Islands.[12] It is non-migratory. It is similar to nominate, but slightly smaller with a black ear region. The variation kreyenborgi is medium grey above, has little barring below, and has a head pattern like the Saker Falcon, but the ear region is white.[27]
Falco peregrinus pealei, described by Ridgway in 1873, is also known as Peale's Falcon, and includes rudolfi.[28]It is found in the Pacific Northwest of North America, northwards from the Puget Sound along the British Columbiacoast (including the Queen Charlotte Islands), along the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the far easternBering Sea coast of Russia.[28] It is possibly found on the Kuril Islands and the coasts of Kamchatka as well. It is non-migratory. It is the largest subspecies, and it looks like an oversized and darker tundrius or like a strongly barred and large anatum. The bill is very wide.[29] Juveniles occasionally have pale crowns. Falco peregrinus tundrius, described by C.M. White in 1968, was at one time included in leucogenys It is found in the Arctic tundra of North America to Greenland. It migrates to wintering grounds in Central and South America.[29] Most vagrants that reach western Europe belong to this subspecies, which was previously united with anatum. It is the New World equivalent to calidus. It is smaller than anatum. It is also paler than anatum; most
