Peregrine Falcon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Peregrine Falcon | |||||||||||||||
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| Adult of subspecies pealei or tundrius, Alaska | |||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | |||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | |||||||||||||||
| Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771 |
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 Global range
Yellow: Breeding summer visitor Green: Breeding resident Blue: Winter visitor Light blue: Passage visitor |
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| Subspecies | |||||||||||||||
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17-19, see text |
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| Synonyms | |||||||||||||||
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Falco atriceps Hume |
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The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a cosmopolitan bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It can also be known just as the Peregrine,[2] and was once called the "Duck Hawk" in North America. In Pakistan it is the state bird of the country recognized as Shaheen and officially the military iconic symbol of the PAF.[3]
It is a large, crow-sized falcon, with a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache". It can fly at up to 322 km/h (200 mph), which means it is the fastest animal in the world.[4][5] As with other bird-eating raptors, the female is bigger than the male.[6][7] There are 17–19 subspecies recorded, and each varies slightly in appearance and where they live. There is disagreement over whether the distinctive Barbary Falcon is a subspecies of the Peregrine or just a different species.
The use of certain pesticides, especially DDT was not good for the animals. It could be shown that in areas where DDT was used, the thickness of the shells of their eggs was reduced. This caused a dramatic decline in their numbers, in certain countries. Since the use of DDT has been forbidden in many countries, their numbers are increasing again. This recovery was helped because their nesting places were protected in many countries; some countries also bred these falcons and released them into the wild.[8]
[change] Other websites
Conservation organizations:
- European Peregrine Falcon Working Group
- Peregrine Falcon Fund
- The Canadian Peregrine Foundation
- Falcon Research Group
[change] References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2004), Falco peregrinus: 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/49518/summ, retrieved 2008-05-21
- ↑ Heinzel, H.; Fitter, R.S.R.; Parslow, J. (1995), Birds of Britain and Europe (5 ed.), London: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-219894-0
- ↑ Friedmann, H. (1950), "i rock birds of North and Middle America", U.S. National Museum Bulletin 50 (11)
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1999), All about the Peregrine falcon, http://www.fws.gov/endangered/recovery/peregrine/QandA.html, retrieved 17 October 2008
- ↑ Taylor, Barbara; Roger Priddy (2007). My Big Animal World. Macmillan, p. 54. ISBN 0312497024.
- ↑ White, C.M. et al (199), "Family Falconida", in del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. and Sargatal, J., Handbook of Birds of the World: New World Vultures to Guineafow, Barcelon: Lynx Edicion, ISBN 84-87334-15-6
- ↑ Snow, D.W. et al. (1998), The complete birds of the western Palaearctic on CD-ROM, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0192685791
- ↑ Cade, T.J. et al. (1988), Peregrine Falcon Populations – Their management and recovery, The Peregrine Fund, Boise, Idaho, ISBN 0-9619839-0-6
