Today as I got into the truck to run an errand the dogs barked kind of funny and I looked over in my neighbor's yard and sitting there was what I believe to be a Peregrine Falcon but I am not sure, I think this is a young one because the colors are not quite as dark as the ones I have researched online...well if anyone out there knows their birds feel free to chime in...
If this is a young Peregrine Falcon you are looking at the fastest animal on earth clocked at speeds of up to 276 miles per hour. The high speeds are reached usually in a free fall dive where the falcon kills its prey by closing its talons and hitting the bird mid-air and usually kills it instantly, the Peregine Falcon then circles around again in mid air and catches the prey. If it is still alive it will "peck" its spine killing the bird. Follow the link below and you will see what happens next.
Interestingly enough we see these birds all the time flying above our house and near the mountain. We have to be especially careful when the bunnies are playing because once one landed on the fence right above velvet as Andrea cleaned her cage. Needless to say these birds are protected under law (this one is tagged as you may notice in the pictures) and they are not afraid of humans, case and point here as I watched this bird eating for some time and even though you can see he was watching me, he never flew off.
5 comments:
crazy! that's wicked cool that you got that close and saw them eating the other bird...
we see birds hit our work windows all the time from a "dive" like that... luckily they are pesky birds like pigeons and such...
Fascinating! Great picture!
COOL!! Only a few more days until we see y'all!!
Did Dad tell you we saw a bird similar to yours in our yard? It had the same profile, but I am not sure about the markings. It would fly away when I tried to get closer, then fly back - it was very shy!!
Andrea-
Hey there it Anneke here. I found your blog through other friends on here. To answer your question my husband is a wildlife biologist and say the picture. It is actually a coopers hawk. Pretty cool!! He actually love birds of prey and is pretty good at identifying them. Hope all is well with you.
Anneke
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