An ex-boss of mine confirmed this morning what I’ve thought to be true. Peregrine Falcons are still, indeed, residing within the confines of the city. Some of them right downtown! And that’s wicked cool. It’s one of the few instances that I see nature and humanity co-existing on a decent level.
She wrote me this a.m. and was like “I saw a hawk take down a pigeon”. My first reaction was Cool!! But my second was, “wait a minute… hawks don’t really go after pigeons naturally…” and so I had her specify what she’d seen, colorization and such, and she has now seen what I haven’t seen in AGES: a Peregrine Falcon taking down its prey. Why is that so cool? Let me tell ya…
First of all, for those that don’t know, my dad was a falconer. You need a Federal license for that, and there are strict rules to adhere to in order to maintain that privilege. What I experienced as a kid because of that will never leave me. See this post here.
What makes Peregrines so cool is the way they hunt. They go sky high, trolling the air… but they’re not looking for game… rabbits, mice, rats, and the like. Nope. They’re lookin’ for other birds. Once they target, they then nose dive, hugging their wings to their side and they literally become a near 200mph missile:
The peregrine is the fastest bird on record reaching horizontal cruising speeds of 65-90 kmh ( 40-55 mph) and not exceeding speeds of 105-110 kmh (65-68 mph). When stooping, the peregrine flies at much greater speeds however, varying from 160-440 kmh (99-273 mph)!
Pairs of Peregrines mate for life, usually setting up housekeeping high in the cliffs. Since we’re running out of cliffs in Europe and the U.S. Peregrines have taken to building their nests up on top of high rise buildings in large cities. Peregrine nests are called scrapes, or eyries and baby falcons are called eyasses. Although they have a high mortality rate, Peregrines have been known to live as long as 15 years. [source - (emphasis mine)]
Yeah, it’s cool. I’ve seen it once. Wanna see a cool vid? Thank God for YouTube … go here to see some super great shots.
And so, cooler still, is knowing they’re here. In Chicago.
See photos from Montrose Beach, Uptown, Hyde Park, and a good article here.
Next time you see a flurry of pigeons bolting from someplace, just keep an eye out for what might have spooked them, and keep your head down!
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It’s FRIDAYYYYY!!!! Woohoo!! Oh yeah, and happy leap year. It’s also the Year of the Rat, according to the Chinese calendar, hence the photo – I know, it’s a mouse, but it’s a mouse on a frog. So there. Eastern meets Western. Year of the Rat is a Leap Year. Nifty.
