Peregrine falcon

The fastest animal alive, a crow-sized falcon that folds its wings and stoops on other birds in midair, and a species that nearly vanished before recovering.

Peregrine falcon at a glance

Falco peregrinus PEHR-eh-grin FAL-kun; Falco peregrinus is FAL-koh pair-EH-grin-us

Type
Bird · raptor
Diet
Carnivore
Size
About the size of a crow (14 to 19 inches long), but built like a fighter jet, with pointed wings that can stretch a yard tip to tip (up to 3 feet 9 inches) and a body that weighs anywhere from about a soup can to a half-gallon jug of milk (12 ounces to 3.3 pounds). Females run close to half again heavier than males.
Lifespan
Commonly 12 to 15 years in the wild. The oldest bird on record, tracked by its leg band, was nearly 20 years old.
Conservation
Least concern (IUCN); the American peregrine falcon was removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1999 after decades of recovery work.

Eats songbirds, shorebirds, ducks, pigeons

A peregrine falcon hunts almost entirely other birds, usually catching them in midair. It climbs high above its prey, then folds its wings and drops in a steep dive called a stoop, striking with its feet at speeds no other animal on Earth reaches.

Should you worry?

None to worry about. A peregrine falcon hunts other birds, not people, and nests high on cliffs specifically to stay away from ground predators, including hikers. Parks close climbing routes near active nests each spring, so respect any posted cliff closure rather than climbing past it.

A falcon a thousand feet above a North Cascades cliff folds its wings into a teardrop and drops. It is not gliding. In three or four seconds it has gone from a speck against the rock to a blur passing a songbird in midair, faster than anything else alive has ever been clocked moving under its own power: over 200 miles per hour, feet first, at a bird that never sees it coming.

Nothing else about a peregrine falcon needs to be fast for that dive to work. Crow-sized, maybe three and a half pounds at most, it climbs above its prey the slow way, on ordinary wingbeats, then tips over and stoops. Small bony baffles inside its nostrils break up the rushing air so it can still breathe at that speed, a fix no other bird needs because no other bird gets there. It hits with its feet, not its beak, and the impact alone can kill.

That falcon almost isn’t there to see. Through the middle of the last century, the pesticide DDT built up in the birds peregrines ate and thinned their eggshells until parents crushed their own eggs just by incubating them. The species disappeared from the eastern United States entirely. DDT was banned in 1972, biologists bred falcons in captivity and released them back onto cliffs like these, and by 1999 the American peregrine falcon had recovered enough to come off the endangered species list. North Cascades still closes two climbing routes near Newhalem every spring, March 1 through July 15, so a pair can raise young on a cliff face undisturbed, the same cliff a parent alive today could remember a peregrine falcon never using at all.

Did you know?

  • A peregrine falcon's stoop is so fast that the bird's own nostrils have small bony tubercles inside them, baffles that slow the rush of air so it can still breathe during the dive.
  • Before 1999, seeing a peregrine falcon anywhere in the eastern United States was rare enough to make news. The species is now common enough that National Park Service climbing programs build its nesting season into their yearly closure calendar.
  • Three subspecies of peregrine falcon are recognized in North America, including the American peregrine falcon that nests in these parks' cliffs.

Common questions

Are peregrine falcons dangerous to kids?

No. They hunt other birds in midair, not people, and their cliff nests are built specifically to stay away from anything on the ground. Just respect posted nesting closures on cliffs and trails.

How fast can a peregrine falcon really fly?

In its hunting dive, called a stoop, a peregrine falcon has been recorded at over 200 miles per hour, the fastest any animal on Earth has ever been measured moving.

Why were peregrine falcons almost extinct?

A pesticide called DDT built up in the birds they ate and thinned their eggshells so much that eggs broke before hatching. After the U.S. banned DDT in 1972, the population slowly recovered, and the species came off the endangered list in 1999.

Where do peregrine falcons nest in these parks?

High on cliff faces, in bare scrapes rather than stick nests. North Cascades closes two specific climbing crags near Newhalem every spring to protect active nests.

What do peregrine falcons eat?

Mostly other birds, caught in midair: songbirds, shorebirds, ducks, and in cities, pigeons.

Where it lives

Where we got this