Falco Peregrinus
The Falcon Peregrinus is one of the fastest birds on Earth, with a recorded speed of over 300 km / h.
They hunt in 3 ways: universal hunters hunt and shoot prey on the ground, then flying hunters in flight destroy the prey that flies, and trembling hunters in trembling standing flight discover prey on the ground and crash into the victim. They feed on birds, small mammals, reptiles and insects.
The upper part of the body of the gray falcon is dark gray with conspicuous spots. His face is whitish with a noticeable black mustache. The scalp is reddish in color. The hand feathers on the wings are black and have white stripes on the inside.
Black stripes extend all over the body and spread towards the end of the tail. The edges of the tail are gray-white. Its beak is dark, slightly bluish with a black tip.
The legs are in shades of yellow. On the upper part of the beak there is a growth that enters the lower part of the beak and is called a tooth. Only falcons have a tooth, while eagles, buzzards and hawks do not. The tooth serves to tear the cervical vertebrae prey.
Gray falcons are monogamous birds, but if one of the partners dies, the other soon finds a new partner. The gray falcon does not build a nest, but occupies the nest of other birds, most often crows. It nests on trees, rocks, ruined towers, but also on the ground. Once a year, the female lays 2 – 4 eggs on which she sits for 28 to 35 days, and after the young hatch, they remain in the nest for 35 to 40 days. After that, they are still fed outside the litter.
The gray falcon population in Europe and North America in the second half of the 20th century decreased by as much as 90%. The use of pesticides such as DDT was found to be most damaging to the gray falcon abundance.
The introduction of pesticides into the food chain leads to the thinning of the egg shell, which is why birds nest more often than before. The gray falcon is also endangered due to poisoning, poaching, transmission line wires and wind farms.
Also because of the climbers who can disturb the birds while sitting on the eggs. If the gray falcon leaves the nest for only a few hours, the chances of the embryo surviving are very small. Bird lovers therefore try to limit climbing during the period when the gray falcon is nesting.