Why Do Peregrines Dive So Fast?

Peregrine tucked for a dive (photo by Chad+Chris Saladin)

Peregrine falcons are famous as the fastest animal on earth, diving at more than 200 miles an hour (320 km/h) to capture prey.

Most of the time they don’t travel that fast and are still successful hunters. What prompts a peregrine to stoop at top speed?

A PLOS study in 2018 revealed that high speed isn’t just for catching up to prey. It makes peregrines more accurate!

Wow!

(photo by Chad+Chris Saladin)

One thought on “Why Do Peregrines Dive So Fast?

  1. At those high speeds, everything else looks like its standing still – so the prey is not a “moving” target anymore.

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