Peregrine falcon
| Peregrine falcon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Adults in Alaska | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Binomial name | |
| Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771
| |
| |
| Global range Breeding summer visitor Breeding resident Winter visitor Passage visitor | |
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 officially the military iconic symbol of the PAF and the unofficial territory bird of Gilgit-Baltistan.[3][4]
The peregrin is a crow-sized falcon, with a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache". It can go at up to 322 km/h (200 mph) in a dive, which means it is the fastest animal in the world.[5][6] As with other bird-eating raptors, the female is bigger than the male.[7][8] 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 in captivity and released them into the wild.[9]
Other websites[change | change source]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Falco peregrinus. |
 |
Wikispecies has information on: Peregrine Falcon. |
Conservation organizations:
- European Peregrine Falcon Working Group
- Peregrine Falcon Fund
- The Canadian Peregrine Foundation
- Falcon Research Group Archived 2007-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
References[change | change source]
- ↑ BirdLife International (2004), Falco peregrinus: 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, archived from the original on 2008-04-04, retrieved 2008-05-21
- ↑ Heinzel, H.; Fitter, R.S.R.; Parslow, J. (1995), Birds of Britain and Europe (5th 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): 1–793
- ↑ In Pakistan, the Peregrine Falcon, or Shaheen Falcon is also associated with the symbolism of the poetry of the national poet Muhammad Iqbal
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1999), All about the Peregrine falcon, archived from the original on 16 April 2008, retrieved 17 October 2008
- ↑ Taylor, Barbara; Roger Priddy (2007). My Big Animal World. Macmillan. p. p. 54. ISBN 0312497024.
|page=has extra text (help) - ↑ White, C.M.; et al. (199), "Family Falconida", in del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. and Sargatal, J. (ed.), Handbook of Birds of the World: New World Vultures to Guineafow, Barcelona: Lynx Edicion, pp. 216–275, plates 24-2, ISBN 84-87334-15-6CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
- ↑ 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