world, reaching speeds up to 300 miles per hour. They reach these
high speeds by doing what is called a “tear drop” dive, which is
when they are high above their prey, then tuck their wings in close
to their body and drop straight at their next meal. Since Peregrines
use the impact at high speeds to kill their prey, they can only catch
their next victim if it is in the air. If there is a pigeon or duck
that is lying on the ground, Peregrines will fly by and hit it, until
it attempts to fly away. Pigeons make up most of their diet,
although they also have been known to hunt starlings, swifts, ducks, quail, and several other different species of songbirds and waterfowl.
Peregrine falcon pairs mate for life, and return to the same nesting
site annually. The most common nesting locations are on the edges of cliffs, on top of tall buildings, or on bridges. In most clutches,
three to four eggs are laid and are then incubated for 29-33 days.
After hatching, these chicks fledge at around 42-46 days, but remain dependent on their parents for about two months.
This is a young Peregrine that was hatched in 2006, at Labadie Power Plant. He was brought to our Rehabilitation Center after he had been in a collision with a vehicle in downtown St. Louis. He is now almost fully healed, but we continue to work with him on flying back and forth between our staff members to see if his
shoulder is now completely healed. As you can see in the pictures, he holds his left shoulder differently than he holds his right one. Once he is fully healed, we will release him back downtown in pigeon paradise.
Bird's Eye View is a regular column written and photographed by our volunteer Daniel.
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