Peregrine Falcon description. The fastest birds. Range, habitats

Not only creatures living on land try to demonstrate their speed qualities, but also those who are able to rise high into the sky. After all, there, just like on earth, there is a constant struggle for life. And here, as they say, you have to try very hard to emerge victorious from this struggle.

The speed of animals living on land depends entirely on the structure of the skeleton and the strength of the limbs. The speed of birds that soar high in the sky depends slightly on other important factors. Here the speed depends not only on the structure of the skeleton and the strength of the wings, but also on the special ability to use all this. Our conversation will focus on the fastest birds.

1 place. Peregrine falcon

Peregrine falcon (lat. Falco peregrinus) - this bird of prey is the size of an ordinary hoodie, but this does not prevent it from being the fastest among all birds. The falcon hunts in the air: before attacking its prey, the falcon rises high, gaining the required height, and only then falls down “like a stone.” In such a fall, the predator develops a speed of up to 100 m/second, which is equal to 350 km/h.

2nd place. Black swift

Black swift (lat. Apus apus) is the main rival of the peregrine falcon in high-speed flight, as well as one of its victims. However, the falcon greatly loses to the swift in horizontal flight, which allows the second to elude its enemy. Although the black swift is a small bird (its wingspan is 40-46 cm), it can easily reach speeds of up to 150 or even 180 km/h.

These birds live their entire lives in the air, where they spend all 24 hours, and black swifts live for just over three years. These birds even manage to sleep in flight: having risen to a height of 2 to 3 thousand meters, they circle there in a spiral, waking up every 5 seconds to make another flap of their wings.

3rd place. Grey-headed albatross

Grey-headed albatross (lat. Thalassarche chrysostoma) is a seabird that has the most big scope wings - 3.5 m! Naturally, the albatross cannot make such dizzying dives as the peregrine falcon, but it can fly at speeds of up to 130 km/h, which it can maintain for 8 hours.

In addition, he can sleep at an altitude of about 2-3 kilometers, circling almost in one place. Thanks to its unique speed qualities, the grey-headed albatross is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

4th place. Gaga

Eiders (lat. Somateria) – type of large seabirds. An eider in horizontal flight can reach speeds of up to 100 km/h. Although it is not as fast as an albatross, it has excellent swimmer qualities: with the help of its wings, the eider can dive to a depth of 20 meters, where it catches fish, crustaceans, various invertebrates and mollusks. Eiders almost never come onto land.

5th place. Pigeon

Pigeons are excellent flyers with incredible memories. Thanks to this quality, carrier pigeons have been used at all times to send correspondence. Especially during the Second World War. The flight speed of a carrier pigeon is 85-100 km/h. They can fly for about 16 hours – without rest! In many countries, monuments have been erected to the carrier pigeon.

6th place. Starling

Starlings (lat. Sturnus vulgaris) is a small bird that not only sings beautifully, but also flies beautifully, reaching flight speeds of up to 70 km/h. The starling can travel hundreds of kilometers during its annual seasonal migration. It should be noted that starlings are capable of high speed fly into the hole of his “home” and at the same time he is not injured at all.

7th place. Field Thrush

Fieldfare (lat. Turdus pilaris) – differs from the rest of its fellows in its way of life. It likes to settle in small copses and park areas - this bird cannot be found in dense forests. The very name of this bird speaks of its extraordinary love for mountain ash. Despite the fact that it is slightly larger than the starling, its speed is lower - about 70 km/h.

8th place. Swallows

Swallows are often confused with swifts, however, swallows have wider wings and a more pronounced “fork” of the tail. In addition, swallows are inferior to swifts in speed. The speed of a coastal swallow or a barn swallow is about 65 km/h. But swallows are much more maneuverable than swifts; they can easily and not only high speed, but also practically in place, turn 360 degrees.

9th place. Common kestrel

Common kestrel (lat. Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey, a distant relative of the peregrine falcon. Hunts small rodents, attacking them from above. Develops speeds up to 60-65 km/h. Easily alternates between slow and rapid flight, preferring soft gliding in the air.

10th place. Chizh

Chizh (lat. Carduelis spinus) is a small songbird that almost never descends to the ground, preferring to perch on tree branches. In the air, a siskin can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h.

View: Peregrine falcon -Falco peregrinus
Family: Falcons
Squad: Diurnal predators
Class: Birds
Type: Chordata
Subtype: Vertebrates
Dimensions:
Bird length – 34-50 cm
Weight – males – 440-750 g, females – 910-1500 g
Lifespan: up to 15 years

Peregrine falcon is the fastest bird and the fastest Living being on Earth, capable of reaching speeds of up to 389 km/h

The fastest bird, the fastest living creature on Earth - all these epithets quite deservedly went to the modest representative of the falcon family. The size of an ordinary crow, the peregrine falcon photo bird is an unsurpassed hunter, developing a speed of 389 km/h in a dive. A keen eye, a lightning-fast throw, and the victim chosen by this virtuoso feathered predator has no chance of salvation.

Habitat

A true cosmopolitan, the peregrine falcon feels great in the sky arctic tundra, both under the scorching sun of Africa, and in the vastness of the middle zone. However, he avoids open spaces, you won’t see him in the desert, predators and humidity don’t favor him tropical forests. The only place where the falcon did not even try to settle was New Zealand. It nests on rocks and trees, but always where it is difficult for both man and his natural enemies to reach.

Characteristic

An ideal hunter, the peregrine falcon is a bird of speed, for which it is valued by all hunters in the world. Among feathered predators, there is no more cunning and ruthless hunter than the peregrine falcon. Slowly gliding high in the sky, he keeps an eye on the birds flying much lower than him. A swift dive with a gray shadow, a blow from powerful paws, and prey in the “pocket”.

Interesting! Developing phenomenal speed, the peregrine falcon does not suffocate in flight thanks to special structure nasal septum. It slows down the incoming air flow, and the falcon does not even notice that it is rushing at the speed of a supersonic fighter.

Appearance

If you look at the peregrine falcon bird photo, it is obvious that it is major representative falcon family.

• He has a strong physique, characteristic of active predators. The muscular relief is clearly visible even under the cover of the wings. The wide chest and strong paws inspire respect.
• The bird is uniquely colored. The upper plumage, tail and back are cast in slate-gray shades, with a transition to black tones. The chest can be pinkish-white, yellow, grayish-white, it all depends on the peregrine falcon’s habitat. Transverse thin dark streaks run throughout the plumage.
• Females are about a third larger than males.
• At the tip of the beak there are sharp teeth, with the help of which the peregrine falcon easily bites the cervical vertebrae of the victim.
• Dark brown keen eyes convex and surrounded by a ring of bare yellowish skin.
• Narrow and a long tail slightly rounded at the end.
• The head and beak are black, the throat and lower part of the head are painted in light colors, from white to red.

Interesting! Juvenile peregrine falcons are less impressively colored than adults. Their feathers are brown, with barely noticeable ocher, and the lower part of the body is light, with streaks located not transversely, but longitudinally.

Compare the peregrine bird photo and description for yourself, and you will clearly see all the shades of its plumage and its beautifully outlined head.

Key Features

Peregrine falcons are fearless and intelligent. They easily take root in cities, hunting pigeons and jackdaws. Skillful hunters, peregrine falcons are no less formidable defenders of their territory. A pair of falcons can easily drive away a small four-legged predator, and even a large one will not be happy when the mother comes to the defense of her chicks. As a true predator, Falco peregrinus does not hesitate to destroy the nests of other birds.

The birds are highly trainable and have long been used by people in falconry. Costs good hunter The peregrine falcon is quite expensive, but people get no less pleasure from contemplating its skillful work.

Nutrition

There are also preferences when it comes to food. Birds do not eat the heads, legs and wings of their prey. Ornithologists note that peregrine falcon nests are always surrounded by the remains of birds, from which scientists determine what the owner of the nest eats.

Nesting

Tall trees, rocks, buildings - these are the main places for arranging nests. It is very rare to see a peregrine falcon nest on the ground. The main condition for building a nest is that it is inaccessible to enemies and the space around it is clearly visible.

Birds are ready to form a pair and reproduce after reaching one year, but more often mating occurs at the age of 2-3 years.

Interesting! Peregrine falcons are monogamous and mate for life.

They are staunch adherents of the territorial factor. Entire dynasties of birds can live in one area. Despite the large population, the distance between nests remains within 2-6 kilometers. When choosing a nesting site, the peregrine falcon prefers areas with water artery. It could be a lake mountain river, a small channel, but it must be there.

The peregrine falcon has been used as a bird of prey since ancient times. In Persia, Indochina, and the Middle East, feathered predators were very expensive, and only noble and rich people could afford falconry. IN modern world The passion for hunting with a falcon has not gone away, but keeping the bird is expensive and requires compliance with special rules.

The bird cannot be kept in a cage. For the peregrine falcon, it is necessary to build an enclosure covered with a mesh, with several dry trees and a shelf for resting. If you decide to keep the bird in an apartment, buy a large cage where it can freely spread its wings.

Important! In nutrition, it is important that the bird receives unprocessed food. For normal digestion, it is necessary that feathers and entrails of game, tails and fur of rodents enter the falcon’s stomach.

Training a falcon to hunt on command is not easy. There are not many falconry specialists. In addition, it is difficult to find accessories for the predator. You won’t be able to buy a headband, a decoy, or a glove just like that. It will be necessary to order them in countries Central Asia or from other professionals who are specifically involved in falconry.

You can see the grace and swiftness of the peregrine falcon’s flight, examine it in all its glory and look at some moments of the hunt in this video:

Sapsan - unique representative order of Falconiformes and the falcon family, which holds the speed record among all living creatures on the planet. In a diving flight, the peregrine falcon is capable of accelerating up to 322 km/h; in other words, in 1 second the bird flies 90 m. In horizontal flight, only the black swift flies faster than the peregrine falcon.

The peregrine falcon is a merciless predator and an excellent hunter. Man early noticed the intelligence and good learning ability of these birds, so peregrine falcons were used most often in hunting, and the very concept of “falconry” goes back to the 1st millennium BC. e. The peregrine falcon, as a nominative species, was first described in 1771 by the British ornithologist Tunstell, and in Russia until the mid-19th century the peregrine falcon was called a falcon.

The peregrine's closest relatives are the laggar, saker falcon, lanner and gyrfalcon. Due to their similar phenotype, they are often combined into one group, however, in a number of ways characteristic features The peregrine falcon is easy to recognize among other birds. Today, scientists identify about 19 subspecies of peregrine falcon, which have minor external differences.

In the paws of a peregrine falcon, apparently, is a guillemot.
Female peregrine falcon, photo from Vladivostok.

What does a peregrine falcon look like?

Among other falcons, the peregrine falcon stands out for its rather large size: the size of an adult bird is 34 - 50 cm. The differences between the sexes are only in size: females are larger than males, their weight reaches 1.5 kg, while the weight of males does not exceed 440 - 750 g. Range Bird wings range from 80 to 120 cm.

Like anyone active predator, the peregrine falcon has a strong build with a developed muscular chest and elongated, pointed wings. The peregrine falcon's tail is long, narrow, and has a rounded tip. Its main weapons are strong fingers with deadly claws and a sickle-curved beak with a jagged hook on the upper half, designed for finishing off and butchering prey.

The upper part of the body of adult birds is covered with slate-gray feathers with black tips. Depending on the range, the belly of the birds is pale gray, pinkish or red in color with thin dark streaks extending from the belly to the sides and undertail. The bird's chest is decorated with teardrop-shaped streaks.

From the corners of the beak to the throat there is a section of black feathers, the so-called “whiskers”, which sharply contrast with the white or reddish throat and are clearly visible in the peregrine falcon in the photo. The bird's eyes are large, brown, and surrounded by a patch of bare skin, as yellow as the wax.

It is quite simple to distinguish young birds from adult birds: young individuals are colored less contrastingly, their legs are yellow and only as they grow older they become black, and the wax has a gray-blue color.

Peregrine falcon fledgling, photo from Vladivostok.


Close-up of a peregrine falcon's muzzle.

Habitat and lifestyle

Peregrine falcons easily adapt to many habitat conditions, so they can be found anywhere on the planet, with the exception of Antarctica and New Zealand. In most of their range, peregrine falcons live sedentary lives; only populations in the Arctic zone make seasonal migrations far to the south.

Favorite places The habitats of peregrine falcons are always located in close proximity to bodies of water: these are hard-to-reach mountain slopes, river cliffs, and moss swamps. Occasionally birds settle within settlements, arranging nests on the roofs of stone high-rise buildings. For example, residents of Atlanta can watch online a pair of predators living on the balcony of an office skyscraper.

In any case, peregrine falcons are very attached to the nesting territory and use it from generation to generation and do not change even when the food supply is reduced.

Peregrine falcon in flight, top view.


Sapsan after lunch.

What does the peregrine falcon eat?

The basis of the peregrine falcon's diet consists of small and medium-sized birds: sparrows, starlings, thrushes, pigeons, and small waterfowl. Occasionally, predators hunt squirrels and hares, and eat lizards, frogs and insects.

Peregrine falcon looks out for prey high point, sometimes flushes from the ground. Having identified the prey, the predator rapidly gains height, and then dives down almost at a right angle, folding its wings. With its powerful paws, the peregrine falcon delivers a tangential blow of such force that the victim’s head often flies off and the body bursts along its entire length. The peregrine falcon carries and eats its prey at an elevated position, leaving its wings, legs and head intact.

Sapsan is interested in the photographer.
A tame peregrine falcon, they are domesticated for hunting.
The peregrine falcon bird comes to land in the nest.
Peregrine falcon in flight.
The peregrine falcon caught a pigeon.
Peregrine falcon sits on a stone.

Reproduction

Peregrine falcons mate for life and bear offspring once a year. The courtship process consists of intricate aerial pirouettes, joint preening of feathers and gnawing of claws.

Depending on the landscape, nests are located on ledges and in rock crevices, in tree hollows, on swamp hummocks or under the eaves of stone buildings. A peregrine falcon's nest is easily recognized by the lack of bedding and a pile of bones around it.

Peregrine falcon bird in flight.
A brood of peregrine falcon in the nest.

There are usually 3 eggs in a clutch, red-brown in color with darker speckles. Incubation lasts from 33 to 35 days, and the chicks that are born are distinguished by very large legs and off-white downy plumage.

At the age of 35 - 45 days, the offspring begin to fly out of the nest, but remain in the care of their parents for several more weeks.

Today, due to the extremely small population, the peregrine falcon is under the protection of many countries, and trade in birds is prohibited throughout the world.

The peregrine falcon is a remarkable bird in many ways. The absolute champion of the avian world in high-speed flight. In the famous hunting “stakes”, when the falcon, having gained altitude, hits the intended victim from above tangentially, the highest speed for birds was recorded - 290 kilometers per hour. What about the birds, to the man on the plane absolute record peregrine falcons lost speed just a little more than half a century ago, when in the early 20s the then “heavenly slugs” finally stepped beyond 300 kilometers.

Since time immemorial, the falcon has served deservedly among all nations. symbol courage, daring and bravery. This is the bird that, in aerial combat, shoots down prey five to ten times heavier than itself; that fast predator, upon seeing which flying ducks from a terrible height fall down like stones to dive under the water. An eagle that accidentally flies to a falcon's nest hurries to get away as soon as it hears the loud war cry of a peregrine falcon rushing to attack. Pursued by falcons, small birds throw themselves at people's feet, hide under carts, and fly into barns to escape certain death.
The peregrine falcon's flight is strong and tireless, its eyes are sharp; his attacks on prey are striking in their swiftness and precise calculation. Hunting peregrine flock behind a flying flock large birds- one of the most interesting sights that a nature lover can see.

In our country, the technique of breeding raptors is being developed in the Issyk-Kul Nature Reserve; A project is underway to create an aviary center on the basis of the Oksky Nature Reserve.

The peregrine falcon is a faithful bird: a pair is formed for the rest of its life, no, it chooses a nesting site all its life. In the North there are many cliffs called falcon cliffs, where peregrine falcon nests have been known for many decades or even centuries. These birds leave their favorite places only under duress - due to nest destruction, shooting, or disturbance.

Some peregrine falcons have settled down, and the seasonal movements of tundra birds do not extend over tens of thousands of kilometers, like the migrations of, for example, falcons. Therefore it seems somewhat absurd Latin name peregrine falcon, which has passed into many languages, is a traveling falcon. However, one can understand naturalists who suspected the peregrine falcon on long journeys if it was encountered in Alaska and Madagascar, Scandinavia and Australia, on Taimyr and the Fiji Islands. The word “peregrine falcon”, which has become entrenched in the Russian language, is of Kalmyk origin.

Peregrine falcons nest in a variety of places: on river cliffs and rocky cliffs, on cornices and in niches, on the tops of ridges and swamp hummocks, in other people's nests and spacious hollows, on ancient ruins and modern skyscrapers. One of the famous female peregrine falcons nested for 16 years in a row in Montreal on the eaves of a 20-story insurance company building, where a special box with sand was reinforced for her. From 1937 to 1952, she lost two spouses, but raised 21 fledglings. There are known nests of peregrine falcons in bell towers (in Poltava, for example), cathedrals, towers, and even on the courthouse in Nairobi behind the bas-relief of the British coat of arms. Peregrine falcons have often been spotted on high-rise buildings in Moscow, but there is no direct evidence of their nesting there. Before the war, the peregrine falcon successfully nested in the suburban Pogono-Losinoostrovsky forest for many years.

On the ground or in a niche, the female scratches a shallow hole with her claws, which completes the care of arranging the home. In Australia, this process was observed in detail. The male was the first to discover a good niche in the cliff. Repeatedly flying up to her with a characteristic cry, he tried in every possible way to attract the female’s attention to his choice. The female preferred a worse cave (with a sloping bottom), but her own. Then she worked for twenty days, digging a nesting hole, without much effort, however: for 3-4 seconds, 2-3 times a day,

The peregrine falcon is strictly territorial. The nesting areas of neighboring pairs are located no closer than 2-3 kilometers from each other, usually further than 5-10. The birds especially protect the area around the nest with a radius of about 100 meters; they chase other birds of prey, snowy owls, and skuas here. They do not stand on ceremony with arctic foxes either. And once they watched how peregrine falcons hit a dog several times, quickly driving it away from the nest.

Clutch - 3-5 red-brown eggs. Incubation lasts about a month, feeding the chicks in the nest for about 6 weeks.

For thousands of years, the peregrine falcon’s courage served him faithfully in protecting his offspring. And in recent decades it has turned into his misfortune. The habit of making noise as soon as they see an enemy or a stranger frightens natural enemies - they know the crushing power of the combined efforts of a pair of peregrine falcons. Today, alas, it does not scare people away, but, on the contrary, attracts them. The clear graduation of the intensity of the voice and the degree of courage of the falcons as they approach the nest serves as an excellent bearing of their exact location. Such homing too often ends in tragedy for both the clutch or brood and its intrepid defenders. “To the madness of the brave...” A cruel paradox: a poetic symbol sometimes turns into a hypocritical excuse for “shooting in self-defense.” But it is permissible to ask: who, sharp shooters at the insanely brave suicide falcons, called you to their home?

The peregrine falcon is a medium-sized predator size, characterized by a very strong build. It has a wide chest with hard and bulging muscles, long sharp wings, short tarsus and long strong fingers. Males weigh about 600-750 grams; females are larger, their weight is 1100-1300 grams. The falcon's beak is rather short, bent, with a sharply protruding tooth on the upper jaw; the claws are very sharp and steeply bent. His eyes are large, bulging, dark brown, with a sharp, piercing gaze. Perhaps the look appears this way because the eye is surrounded by a yellowish ring of bare skin. The upper side of an adult bird is brownish-gray, with light bluish transverse stripes; the underparts are whitish, with a reddish mark on the chest and small blackish spots and stripes. The older the bird, the fewer of these dark spots it has on its underside. A long black mustache runs from the corner of the mouth to the throat; the legs, beak cere and eye ring are bright yellow. In young falcons, these bare parts are pale greenish-yellow, and the color of the first plumage on top is dark brown, with reddish edges. The abdomen is reddish, with longitudinal brown stripes. This first outfit is replaced only after a year. A flying peregrine falcon from a distance can be confused in color with a goshawk, which it is similar in size to, but the falcon's wings are longer and its tail is shorter and sharper.

Peregrine Falcon common throughout to the globe. In Russia it is found from the islands of the Arctic Ocean
And northern tundra to the Crimea, the Caucasus, the mountains of Central Asia and the Amur region. It is not found only in the steppes of Ukraine, the Volga region, Western Siberia, in the flat deserts of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, although it happens here in flight.
Falcons are very unpretentious in their choice of habitats. They can be found in the tundra, on sea ​​coasts, in the mountains, forests, sometimes even on high towers in big cities. In Moscow, for example, falcons sometimes nested in the large bell towers of some churches. Falcons avoid only treeless steppes and dense forests, where there are few open spaces. It is difficult for falcons to hunt in the forest, which depends on the way they attack their prey.

The falcon, with rare exceptions, does not take a bird sitting on the ground, hiding in the branches or floating on the water, and does not touch animals running on the ground. His element is air. Already a young falcon, having just flown out of the nest, without any lessons from its parents, grabs a flying bird with extraordinary speed and accuracy. At attack The peregrine falcon rises above the bird and, folding its wings, then rushes from above, somewhat obliquely. He strikes with his paws folded and pressed into his body. The peregrine falcon's attack is so swift and the blow is so strong that often the predator does not have time to grab the struck bird with its front fingers (the blow is delivered, in fact, by the claws of the back finger), and the killed or seriously wounded victim falls to the ground, and the falcon is already descending towards it. If a duck or other bird of similar size is struck in the neck, its head will often fly off. The falcon breaks the wing bones even of large birds; and a blow that lands along the body rips the bird apart average size almost along its entire length. This striking force is largely due to the speed of the falcon's attack. According to precise calculations, falling on prey at an angle of 25°, the falcon flies at a speed of 75 meters per second; when falling at an angle close to a straight line, the speed increases to 100 meters per second, that is, approaching the speed of high-speed aircraft.

During such a flight, the falcon is not visible: watching it, you notice only a flickering shadow and hear the sharp sound of cutting air. You should not think that the falcon’s strike goes in a direct direction towards the prey: when terrible force flying apart, the peregrine falcon would have broken its legs. The fall of a falcon usually occurs somewhat behind or to the side of the pursued bird, and the blow is delivered “tangentially” when the predator, opening its wings, begins to rise. If the blow is not particularly strong, then the falcon finishes off the bird by breaking its neck with its beak (the hook on the upper half of its beak helps it with this).
With the speed and power of flight, the falcon sometimes begins to pursue a spotted bird from a distance of 1500, more often - 1000 meters (while other predators, such as hawks, do not attack a flying bird more than 100-150 meters away). The most hunting is happening in various ways. The falcon, flying quickly low above the ground, scares the bird and, forcing it to rise, itself flies higher, and then strikes in the described manner. Or he looks out for prey while sitting somewhere on a high place, and then catches up. Sometimes the peregrine falcon flies high (“on horseback”) and from there rushes at the flying bird. Falcons often hunt in pairs, the male and female.
Given their art of flying, there is, in essence, not a single bird that would be completely safe from attacks by falcons. Even swifts and swallows fall into their clutches. Typically, peregrine falcons feed on medium-sized birds: pigeons, crows, thrushes, starlings, waders, teals, and ducks. Hunting trained falcons (“seasoned”) also take large birds - geese or herons.
In order to get enough, a falcon (an adult bird) needs relatively little - about 150 grams of pure meat. But in the wild, peregrine falcons eat more; It is not uncommon for a falcon to eat a small duck or pigeon in one day. They eat small birds whole; in medium birds they leave the entrails, sternum, and large bones of the legs and wings. They also swallow small bones and some feathers; the undigested remains are then thrown out through the mouth in the form of lumps called pellets.

Northern falcons fly away from their homeland for the winter, usually following a departing water bird; V middle lane peregrine falcons more or less saddles. Very early, even before the beginning of spring, from mid-February, northern falcons begin to move from their wintering grounds. In Ukraine they begin to be seen in the first half of March; in the central zone of the European part of Russia they fly in early April, when local peregrine falcons have already begun nesting. The time at which tundra falcons appear at their nests depends on the timing of the arrival of ducks, geese and other birds that make up their prey. At this time, in Central Europe, falcons already have a full clutch of eggs.
In the middle zone, falcons mate already in March. At this time, the male and female rush around with a characteristic loud cry (like “kyak-kyak-kyak...”), playing in the air at a high altitude. The female lives with the male for several years. If one bird from a pair is killed, another appears to replace it. Typically a pair of falcons nest many times in the same nest.

The decline in the peregrine falcon population is an almost worldwide phenomenon. Very few of the well-surveyed populations escaped this sad fate in the post-war decades. To the surprise of ornithologists, a solid group of approximately 500 pairs of peregrine falcons is still relatively stable in the Aleutian Islands and other archipelagos in the northeastern part Pacific Ocean. It looks unique against the backdrop of the continuing decline in peregrine falcon numbers across the North American continent. In one of its large regions - eastern half USA - Peregrine falcons disappeared back in the 60s of this century.

The state of peregrine falcon populations in the majority is no better European countries. Until the middle of this century, about 800 pairs of falcons nested in Finland, and thirty years later, in the 70s, almost 50 (!) times less - no more than 20 pairs. Less than 10 successfully breeding pairs are currently known in Sweden. The last nesting peregrine falcon left Denmark in 1973. There are dozens of pairs of modern peregrine falcon populations in Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Germany, and France; individual nesting sites are known in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Austria; several hundred pairs survive in Spain.

The peregrine falcon is brave. The same buzzard, having noticed a stranger near its own nest, begins to wail pitifully at a respectful distance. The peregrine falcon is not frightened by the presence of the enemy, but angered. It is interesting to see the changes in his mood before the change of observers. Having spotted the next duty officer a kilometer and a half away, the falcon on the nest begins to fill with anger, as if boiling with rage. The voice becomes threatening, the eyes burn, the body is tense. About 100 meters from the nest, the observer crossed the forbidden line, and the female rushes towards him with a piercing cry. In defending the nest, the peregrine falcon is desperately brave, completely obeying the military postulate: “Attack - The best way defense." Summoned by an alarm signal heard from afar, the male joins the female, pike follows pike, angry projectile birds sometimes rush a meter above their heads. At these moments you clearly understand: any enemy of the peregrine falcon - a skua, an arctic fox, even a wolf - will not fare well under such a frantic onslaught.