Ranger

Species: Peregrine Falcon
Scientific Name: Falco peregrinus
Size: Body length of 16 – 20 inches, wingspan of 36 – 44 inches, weighs 1 ¼ - 2 ¾

WHY AM I HERE?
I was found on someone’s front lawn in downtown Fresno in July of 2010. My left wing had been marked with indelible ink where someone was preparing to amputate the underside of my wing. Obviously I was being held illegally and I either escaped or was set loose so my captors wouldn’t get caught with me, as it is highly illegal to hold my species without proper Federal and State wildlife permits. They had already damaged my wing so much that my feathers do not grow in correctly any more and I can’t fly well enough to hunt for myself and cannot be released into the wild.

I AM SPECIAL BECAUSE
My species is the fastest animal on Earth and can reach speeds of 330 miles an hour in a dive! Our species is an environmental conservation success story. We were listed on the national endangered species list in 1974 after the chemical pesticide DDT weakened our eggshells. When a mother bird sat on her eggs, they were crushed, so very few babies hatched. After the banning of DDT in the United States, The Peregrine Fund released more than 4000 captive-reared birds in 28 states over a 25-year period. Peregrine Falcons have adapted well to living in many large cities, including New York and San Francisco. Cities offer tall buildings with ledges for nesting, water sources, large populations of pigeons and starlings for food, and have few natural predators. We made a strong recovery and were removed from the endangered species list in 1999!

RANGE
This falcon is found all across America on every continent except Antarctica, and lives in a wide variety of habitats from tropics, deserts, and sea coasts to the tundra, and from sea level to 12,000 foot mountains. Those peregrines that live in cold northern areas are highly migratory, moving to warmer areas in winter.

DIET
Peregrines chiefly hunt birds such as starlings, pigeons, blackbirds, jays, shorebirds, and waterfowl, but will rarely take mammals, reptiles, or insects. Peregrines may use a variety of hunting techniques, but typically prey is captured in the air after fast pursuit or a rapid dive to catch the prey.

NESTING
Peregrine Falcons frequently nest near water on ledges of rocky cliffs or buildings, but occasionally will use abandoned stick nests of other species. They do not build their own nests, but will scrape a small depression out of the soil on a cliff. Peregrines lay 3 - 4 eggs, which are incubated for about 34 days. The young falcons fledge 5 - 6 weeks after hatching.