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Peregrine falcon speed 247 lure8/25/2023 While there can be multiple peregrines in a site with an abundance of food, they aren’t gregarious. On or off their breeding grounds, peregrine falcons are loners. Their flashy colors, large, visible body plans, feeding habits, and wind-seeking behavior often bring them into proximity with other eagles. Hashtag #musing: could body plans impact gregariousness? Off their breeding grounds, bald eagles are quite gregarious. I find it to be more helpful than looking for hard-to-see features if a bird is far away. While they sacrifice some maneuverability, their food – carrion – doesn’t require agility to catch.Īgain, learning about body plans and flight behavior helps us understand birds and identify them in the field. This allows them to exploit the smallest of air currents as they soar lowly and slowly through the sky. Wind flows under the low wing, pushing the vulture and righting it until it tips again. As wind strikes one wing or another, tipping the vulture right or left, one wing tips high and the other tips low. Turkey vultures are masters of soaring without flapping as they ride the wind in search of carrion. Turkey Vulture: No flapping required!Ī turkey vulture “V” is more correctly referred to as a dihedral. Although they have spicules – rough bumps that help them grip slippery fish – bald eagles don’t specialize in any one kind of prey, and their size, strength, powerful feet, and fishing ability let them catch and eat a wide variety of prey. Without stopping, they fly into a tree, on to the bluff, or into the nest, crushing or stabbing the trout with their powerful feet and sharp talons. As we’ve seen at the fish hatchery, eagles swoop shallowly over the retaining pond, braking heavily as they plunge their feet into the water and pull out trout. Compared to a peregrine falcon, its speed of attack is slower, its angle of attack is lower, and it usually kills with its feet. Bald Eagle: Low speed, low angle snatchingĪ bald eagle’s large size, soaring flight, and strong feet allow it to take a wide variety of prey. While a peregrine’s feet are strong and quick – great for grabbing and slashing attacks – they don’t have the crushing strength of a bald eagle and their diet is largely restricted to other birds. If hitting a bird doesn’t kill it, peregrine falcons use their tomial tooth – a special notch in their beaks that bald eagles don’t have – to sever their prey’s spine. As the falcon approaches its prey, it extends its feet, brakes sharply, and snatches it out of the air with its long, slender toes and sharp talons. Special cone-shaped bones in its nostrils – an adaptation unique to peregrine falcons – allow it to breath while diving at speeds of over 200 miles per hour. A peregrine begins its dive by rolling, cupping its wings around its body, and tucking in its feet, yielding an aerodynamic raindrop that slices through the air. Peregrine Falcons: High speed, high angle strikingĪ peregrine falcon’s speed and maneuverability allow it to fly high, dive steeply, and hit prey so hard that the force of impact severs its prey’s spinal cord. The peregrine body plan and high-aspect wings – narrow, pointed wings relative to its overall surface area – is most suited to high-speed, high-energy flight. Where eagle flight is flat, peregrines often fly in a series of arcs as they dive, dash and pursue other birds. Their long, narrow, pointed wings and long tails are shaped for diving, twisting, and turning in flight. Peregrine falcons are built for speed and maneuverability. large, broad wings relative to its overall surface area – are most suited to low-angle, low-energy soaring flight. The bald eagle body plan and low-aspect wings – i.e. A stiff tail wind will send migrating eagles aloft in the thousands, especially over surfaces with little opportunity for thermal soaring. They tend to hold their wings flat in flight, migrate during the day, and use wind corridors – geographical features that concentrate and amplify wind – whenever possible. Body plans, size, and flightīald eagles are built for soaring, with long, broad, slightly-rounded wings, large wing slots, and broad, wedge-shaped tails. Both are birds of prey, but their body plans and wing shapes result in very different lives. Peregrine falcons are energetic, acrobatic flyers that specialize in catching birds in the air. Coming to our After the Fledge party in Decorah? Get ready for Turkey Vulture or Not with this article!īald eagles are soaring generalist hunters that eat almost anything they can catch. Bald Eagle or Turkey Vulture? Is that a Peregrine Falcon or something else? Understanding body plans can be helpful in identifying soaring, stooping, and flying birds.
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