2: American Peregrine Falcon

Hello friends,

I write to you from Arapahoe, Ute, and Cheyenne land. I am interested in learning about the different animals that live in the place where I was born. I want to mention that biological classification as taught by western science has its roots in racism, sexism, and transphobia – here’s a good explainer about why.

I am using the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Species Profile page to come up with my list of animals (aside from arthropods – we’ll get into that next week). They divide up animals into amphibian, bird, crustacean, fish, mammal, mollusk, and reptile. I plan to keep things fresh by rotating between those broader categories each day. So I am excited to announce that already, on day two, we have reached the best category: BIRDS. Today we are going to talk about the American Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus anatum.

What I assume already know about this bird: that it is probably the fastest animal on earth. I used to teach a class at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science where we talked about them and showed a video of their dive towards prey, which can reach around 200mph(!). I went looking for this video to include and instead found this absolutely bonkers video from the BBC. I would love to know what was going through Helen the falcon’s mind as they removed her hood she discovered she was in a balloon with a bunch of mad Englishmen. Presumably something about the supremacy of wings as a method for ascension.

Given their hunting style – circling at great height, spotting prey, and then diving – it makes sense that they would have amazing eyesight. Indeed, they probably also have the fastest vision of any animal. From that study, “The peregrine falcon… can register nearly 130 frames per second… They added that at a movie theatre, a speed of 25 images per second is sufficient for humans to perceive it as film, and not as a series of still images.”

Peregrines are found everywhere on terrestrial Earth aside from New Zealand and the poles, and often fly far out to sea too. This massive range means that there are dozens of other names for the bird, including, for Salish speaking peoples of the Pacific Northwest, aátat.

Sadly, they almost went extinct due to DDT and other pesticides in the mid-20th century, although their numbers are rebounding now. Interestingly, though not surprisingly, this near-extinction phase created a genetic bottleneck, and a study from Scandinavia shows them to have a different genetic makeup following human intervention.

Some peregrines are city dwellers, who nest high up on buildings. Urban peregrines feast mainly on pigeons, a practice that is presumably mocked by rural peregrines for being out of touch.

Thanks for reading!