Adult with young near Montbelliard - France🦅

Photo: Georges Lignier (georges.lignier@wanadoo.fr) · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesFalconiformesFalconidae
Birds

🦅Peregrine falcon

Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771

The peregrine falcon, also referred to simply as the peregrine, is a bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae known for its speed. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts and a black head. As is typical for bird-eating (avivore) raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. Historically, the bird has also been known as the "black-cheeked falcon" in Australia and the "duck hawk" in North America.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
502
Photos
6
Measurements
12
vs you
≈ 1/82nd of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2021.

Population trendIncreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
0.76 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
25 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Peregrine falcon

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.76 kg
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 0.84 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length
0.14 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.31 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.05 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
25 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
30 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 3
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Carnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Grassland
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Aerial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0.8 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Peregrine falcon yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderFalconiformes
  5. ›familyFalconidae
  6. ›genusFalco
  7. ›speciesFalco peregrinus
Full lineage
  1. classBirds · Aves
  2. orderFalconiformes
  3. familyFalconidae
  4. genusFalco
All 12 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. orderFalconiformes
  11. familyFalconidae
  12. genusFalco
More

More about the Peregrine falcon

Closest relative on this site
🦅 Eurasian Hobby — last shared an ancestor ≈ 11 million years ago.
In other languages
游隼 (zh), sokół wędrowny (pl), Falco peregrinus (es), vándorsólyom (hu), Πετρίτης (el), pilgrimsfalk (sv) … and 28 more languages

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

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