Peale’s Peregrine Falcon - Sierra Club BC
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Peale’s Peregrine Falcon

CAN BE FOUND IN:

Peale's Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus pealei 

Appearance

Peale’s peregrine falcons have small heads and long, pointed wings for flying at high speeds. When flying, they can dive at over 300 kilometres per hour. A black “moustache” below the eye, dark upper parts, and light breast and belly help identify them. 

Range & Habitat

They nest across coastal Alaska and British Columbia. In B.C., this animal is found in the Coast and Mountains and the Georgia Depression ecoprovinces. 

Reciprocal relationships

Falcons are carnivores gifted with the art of the hunt. They have exceptional eyesight, with sharp talons and beaks. They eat mostly small seabirds (especially ancient murrelets) and some mammals. They nest mostly on cliffs, and mate for life. The parents teach the young how to catch prey in the air. 

They reach breeding maturity at two years of age. On average, they lay 4 eggs each spring, which hatch about a month later. When the pesticide DDT was being used on crops, peregrine falcons suffered because they ate insects covered in DDT, and it made their eggshells too thin to hold the chicks. The use of DDT has since been banned and peregrine falcon populations are recovering. 

status

COSEWIC: Special Concern 
CDC: Blue 

more information

If you belong to a First Nation with a story or piece of information not represented here and you would like to share more about this species, please email us at education@sierraclub.bc.ca.   

photo credit

Canva

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