![]() ![]() The word arose by mistaken division of Old French un niais, from Latin presumed * nidiscus (“nestling”, from nidus = nest). Some sources give the etymology as deriving from the fact that a male falcon is approximately one third smaller than the female (Old French tiercelet).Ī falcon chick, especially one reared for falconry, that is still in its downy stage is known as an eyas (sometimes spelt eyass). The traditional term for a male falcon is tercel (British spelling) or tiercel (American spelling), from Latin tertius = third because of the belief that only one in three eggs hatched a male bird. The falcons are part of the family Falconidae, which also includes the caracaras, Laughing Falcon, forest falcons, and falconets. Some small falcons with long narrow wings are called hobbies, and some which hover while hunting are called kestrels. Other falcons include the Gyrfalcon, Lanner Falcon, and the Merlin. Peregrine Falcons have been recorded diving at speeds of 200 miles per hour (322 km/hr), making them the fastest-moving creatures on Earth. This is to make it easier for them to fly while learning the exceptional skills required to be effective hunters as adults. Fledgling falcons, in their first year of flying, have longer flight feathers which makes their configuration more like that of a general-purpose bird such as a broadwing. The 37 species are widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America OverviewĪdult falcons have thin tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and to change direction rapidly. The word comes from their Latin name falco, related to Latin falx (“sickle”) because of the shape of these birds’ wings. Laws were enacted to ban DDT and, fortunately the ban, along with other conservation efforts, led to the recovery of the species.A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. Certain pesticides used by farmers-including DDT-harmed the peregrines by causing their eggshells to be dangerously thin-so fragile that they broke when the parents tried to incubate them. Peregrine falcons in the United States were listed as an endangered species after their numbers dropped dangerously low between the 1950s and the 1970s. Peregrine chicks stay in the nest for up to six weeks, by which time they've learned to fly. ![]() Parents incubate the eggs for about a month until the eggs hatch. Female peregrines lay two to four eggs at a time. They usually just find a shallow dip in some rocks or scrape a depression in the soil on the ledge of a cliff, or even use the ledge of a building. They make the return trip north when it's time to mate and lay eggs. Some peregrine falcons migrate in the winter from their nesting grounds in the Arctic all the way to South America-a round-trip distance of up to 15,500 miles (24,945 kilometers). They live in a greater variety of habitats than almost any other bird of prey. Their adaptability even allows them to thrive in cities. Peregrines live from cold tundra to hot deserts, from sea level to high in the mountains. A common bird of prey (a group of hunting birds that includes such birds as hawks and eagles), the peregrine is an adaptable falcon that can be found in almost any habitat. ![]()
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