http://www.merckmanuals.com/pethealth/birds/description_and_physical_characteristics_of_birds/description_and_physical_characteristics_of_birds.html
The bones of the Peregrine Falcon are hollow, as are the bones for all birds. Hollow bones make the organism lighter, and therefore, it helps with flight. The tail of the Peregrine Falcon is very important. Without it's tail, it cannot fly, just like a Snow Leopard with a tail cannot run. The tail, like on aircrafts, is used for streamlining, and stabilization during flight. The darker and lighter colours on the Peregrine Falcon are extremely helpful to them for hunting. Like a great white shark is darker blue on top and white on the bottom to blend in with the water, the Peregrine Falcon is darker on it's dorsal side to hide from other birds of prey, and it's ventral side is lighter to hide itself from it's prey.
The Peregrine Falcon can walk and fly. The Peregrine Falcon, is the fastest bird in the animal kingdom. It uses it's speeds when hunting to catch it's prey. When the Peregrine Falcon does it's famous High Dive, it can reach speeds of up to 420km/h.
The Peregrine Falcon is a warm blooded organism. it has a heart like humans, and it has veins, arteries, and capillaries, just like us as well. The Peregrine Falcon's circulatory system is very similar to ours, however it's heart pumps much faster to get oxygen throughout it's small body so it can withstand the speed and intense gravity of high speed flight.
The respiratory system is also unique; the Peregrine Falcon maintains a one-way flow of air so that it can breathe while flying. This system is much more efficient than the more common two-way flow of air. Birds have two relatively small lungs, where gas exchange occurs, but the lungs are augmented by bellows-like air sacs, where no gas exchange occurs. These air sacs keep the lungs perpetually inflated, even when the bird is exhaling. The Peregrine Falcon also has cones in its nostrils to help regulate breathing at high speeds. Its circulatory system also needs to be exceptionally strong, because flying takes lots of oxygen. A bird's heart beats much faster than the human heart does, approximately 600-900 beats per minute.
Peregrines eat other birds and things that fly. A peregrine will typically fly above its prey, then fold its wings and dive or stoop at the other bird and strike it with a half-closed foot. The falcon then retrieves the stunned or dead bird in midair. Peregrines are also swift fliers that can simply fly up behind their prey and grab it in mid-flight. The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest creature on the planet in its hunting method, the stoop, in which it soars to a great height, then free falls at speeds in excess of 420 km/h (260mph) into either wing of its prey, as not to harm itself on impact.
Peregrine Falcons feed almost exclusively on birds, such as doves, waterfowl and songbirds, but occasionally they hunt small mammals, including bats, rats, voles and rabbits. Insects and reptiles make up a relatively small proportion of their diet. On the other hand, a growing number of city-dwelling Falcons find that feral pigeons and Common Starlings provide plenty of food. Because of their high metabolic rates, Peregrine Falcons must consume more food in proportion to their size than most animals. To be efficient flyers, the digestive system of birds has to be both as light as possible and as efficient as possible. The need to keep weight as low as possible also means that, except perhaps prior to migration, there is a limit to the amount of fat the Peregrine Falcon can store.
The Peregrine Falcon does not have teeth, nor does it have saliva. But it does have a beak, and sharp talons that allow it to rip apart its prey and eat it.
The average life span of the Peregrine Falcon is 8-10 years, but there have been some recorded cases of them living past 20 years in the wild.
The Peregrine Falcon has oviparous reproductive cycle because it lays eggs. Generally three to four eggs, but sometimes as few as one or as many as five, are laid in the scrape.] The eggs are white to buff with red or brown markings. They are incubated for 29 to 33 days, mainly by the female, with the male also helping with the incubation of the eggs during the day, but only the female incubating them at night.
When two Peregrine Falcons have mated they protect their nest until the eggs hatch and grow in to adult Peregrines. The pair defends the chosen nest site against other Peregrines, and often against ravens, herons, and gulls, and if ground-nesting, also such mammals as foxes, wolverines, felids, bears and wolves. Both nests and (less frequently) adults are predated by larger-bodied raptorial birds like eagles, large owls, or Gyrfalcons. Peregrines defending their nests have managed to kill raptors as large as Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles (both of which they normally avoid as potential predators) that have come too close to the nest.
(Multiple Unknown authors, 2002)
The bones of the Peregrine Falcon are hollow, as are the bones for all birds. Hollow bones make the organism lighter, and therefore, it helps with flight. The tail of the Peregrine Falcon is very important. Without it's tail, it cannot fly, just like a Snow Leopard with a tail cannot run. The tail, like on aircrafts, is used for streamlining, and stabilization during flight. The darker and lighter colours on the Peregrine Falcon are extremely helpful to them for hunting. Like a great white shark is darker blue on top and white on the bottom to blend in with the water, the Peregrine Falcon is darker on it's dorsal side to hide from other birds of prey, and it's ventral side is lighter to hide itself from it's prey.
The Peregrine Falcon can walk and fly. The Peregrine Falcon, is the fastest bird in the animal kingdom. It uses it's speeds when hunting to catch it's prey. When the Peregrine Falcon does it's famous High Dive, it can reach speeds of up to 420km/h.
The Peregrine Falcon is a warm blooded organism. it has a heart like humans, and it has veins, arteries, and capillaries, just like us as well. The Peregrine Falcon's circulatory system is very similar to ours, however it's heart pumps much faster to get oxygen throughout it's small body so it can withstand the speed and intense gravity of high speed flight.
The respiratory system is also unique; the Peregrine Falcon maintains a one-way flow of air so that it can breathe while flying. This system is much more efficient than the more common two-way flow of air. Birds have two relatively small lungs, where gas exchange occurs, but the lungs are augmented by bellows-like air sacs, where no gas exchange occurs. These air sacs keep the lungs perpetually inflated, even when the bird is exhaling. The Peregrine Falcon also has cones in its nostrils to help regulate breathing at high speeds. Its circulatory system also needs to be exceptionally strong, because flying takes lots of oxygen. A bird's heart beats much faster than the human heart does, approximately 600-900 beats per minute.
Peregrines eat other birds and things that fly. A peregrine will typically fly above its prey, then fold its wings and dive or stoop at the other bird and strike it with a half-closed foot. The falcon then retrieves the stunned or dead bird in midair. Peregrines are also swift fliers that can simply fly up behind their prey and grab it in mid-flight. The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest creature on the planet in its hunting method, the stoop, in which it soars to a great height, then free falls at speeds in excess of 420 km/h (260mph) into either wing of its prey, as not to harm itself on impact.
Peregrine Falcons feed almost exclusively on birds, such as doves, waterfowl and songbirds, but occasionally they hunt small mammals, including bats, rats, voles and rabbits. Insects and reptiles make up a relatively small proportion of their diet. On the other hand, a growing number of city-dwelling Falcons find that feral pigeons and Common Starlings provide plenty of food. Because of their high metabolic rates, Peregrine Falcons must consume more food in proportion to their size than most animals. To be efficient flyers, the digestive system of birds has to be both as light as possible and as efficient as possible. The need to keep weight as low as possible also means that, except perhaps prior to migration, there is a limit to the amount of fat the Peregrine Falcon can store.
The Peregrine Falcon does not have teeth, nor does it have saliva. But it does have a beak, and sharp talons that allow it to rip apart its prey and eat it.
The average life span of the Peregrine Falcon is 8-10 years, but there have been some recorded cases of them living past 20 years in the wild.
The Peregrine Falcon has oviparous reproductive cycle because it lays eggs. Generally three to four eggs, but sometimes as few as one or as many as five, are laid in the scrape.] The eggs are white to buff with red or brown markings. They are incubated for 29 to 33 days, mainly by the female, with the male also helping with the incubation of the eggs during the day, but only the female incubating them at night.
When two Peregrine Falcons have mated they protect their nest until the eggs hatch and grow in to adult Peregrines. The pair defends the chosen nest site against other Peregrines, and often against ravens, herons, and gulls, and if ground-nesting, also such mammals as foxes, wolverines, felids, bears and wolves. Both nests and (less frequently) adults are predated by larger-bodied raptorial birds like eagles, large owls, or Gyrfalcons. Peregrines defending their nests have managed to kill raptors as large as Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles (both of which they normally avoid as potential predators) that have come too close to the nest.
(Multiple Unknown authors, 2002)