| Peregrine Falcon | |
| |
| Names | |
| Common Name: | Peregrine Falcon |
| Scientific Name: | (Falco peregrinus) |
| Appearance | |
| A small, crow-sized falcon with brown, tan, and white chest feathers, black barring and stripes, a black head and wings, yellow beak and talons, and beady black eyes | |
| Behavior | |
| Peregrine Falcons inhabit the Northern Kingdoms and serve as military messengers. They reach speeds up to 80 leagues an hour, twice as fast as the swiftest owl could, making them best suited for the job. | |
The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a species of crow-sized falcon that, in the Northern Kingdoms, have sometimes served as messengers for Owls, flying twice as fast a Great Horned Owl. However, they have been generally reserved for military messaging.
Information[]
Description[]
The peregrine falcon has a body length of 13–23 in (34 to 58 cm) and a wingspan from 29–47 in (74 to 120 cm) with females being 30% larger. Males weigh 0.73–2.20 lb (330-1000 g) and the noticeably larger females weigh 1.5–3.3 lb (700-1500 g). The back and wings are bluish black to slate grey. The white to rusty underparts are barred with thin clean bands of dark brown or black. Their upper beak is notched to help kill prey.
Ecology[]
The peregrine falcon lives along mountain ranges, river valleys, coastlines, and increasingly in cities. Their greatest predators are the Great Horned Owl and the Eurasian Eagle-Owl. It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth.
In universe, they've only been seen in the Northern Kingdoms.
Diet[]
They feed almost exclusively on medium-sized birds such as pigeons and doves, waterfowl, songbirds, and waders. Other than bats, they rarely eat mammals. Those that nest on tall buildings or bridges subsist mostly on different pigeons. They hunt at dawn and dusk when prey is most active, but in cities they will hunt nocturnally. Since they require a lot of space to hunt, it often hunts over open water, marshes, valleys, fields, and tundra, searching for prey either from a high perch or from the air. Once the prey is spotted, it dives at over 200 mph (320 km/h) and strikes the prey with its clenched foot, stunning or killing it in mid-air.
Reproduction[]
A pair begins a courtship flight, with the male passing the female prey. They mate for life, and are very territorial during the breeding season. They will defend their nests from predators, and sometimes even manage to kill larger raptors. They usually nest in a scrape on cliff edges, but now also nest regularly on tall buildings or bridges. 3-4 eggs are laid, but it can be as few as 1 and as many as 5. The eggs are incubated for 29-33 days. The chicks fledge after 42-46 days.
Known Peregrine Falcons[]
History[]
The Rise of a Legend[]
A peregrine falcon is first mentioned when Lyze is looking out his hollow for a message response from Lil, expecting a Great Horned Owl or falcon. When a Great Horned arrives, he states that the message would have been delivered sooner if not for the peregrine being intercepted, most likely indicating it was killed. The message was not from Lil, but rather a death notice for Lyze's father, Rask.
Later on, when Lyze is well into his time training as a cadet, General Andricus receives a message from a falcon with the news that an earthquake at Gareth's Keep near Little Hoole had destroyed the remaining walls of their fortress, making Little Hoole vulnerable to attack. Ice Talons units had stormed the breach, but were fought off by a young student, Strix Struma.
After an attack on the secret training grounds, Lyze discovers that Glyniss was a turnfeather. As she dies, she tells him their secret is out.
While she's convincing Lyze to travel to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, Thora mentions that Brother Oliver sent her a peregrine telling her what Lyze had been up to.
Trivia[]
- Its genus name Falco is Late Latin for "falcon" and is derived from a word meaning "sickle" which refers to both the bird's claws and their long, pointed wings.
- Both its English name peregrine and its species name peregrinus mean "wandering" referring to their migratory habits.