To the ancient Egyptians the falcon was a holy bird. One of their sky-gods, Horus — whose name means 'he who is on high' — is often shown in their paintings and sculptures in the shape of a peregrine falcon.It is easy to see why the Egyptians thought so highly of the peregrine. Although fairly small, about the size of a crow, its fierce, alert appearance makes up for its lack of size. Like all birds of prey, it has powerful talons with which to catch its food and a razor-sharp beak to tear the flesh up. The male bird is known as the tiercel. The female, simply called the falcon, is much bigger than the male and may weigh twice as much as he does.
Peregrines like to wander from place to place — to peregrinate means to travel about — and so they can be seen in almost any type of countryside. Most of the time they live alone, but during the breeding season each bird chooses a mate and they stay together until the end of the season.
The falcon lays her eggs in a hollow on a high cliff or mountain ledge or perhaps in the old nest of a raven or some other bird. The chicks hatch out in late spring.
At first the chicks are quite helpless, but by the time they are a few weeks old they can tear up the food their parents bring them. Once the young birds can fly, their parents take them out every day and teach them to hunt and kill for themselves.
Peregrines catch their prey in flight. They have very sharp eyesight and can spot a victim from some distance away. They attack swiftly, diving down and striking their prey to the ground. This action is known as the peregrine's 'stoop'. When a skilful peregrine 'stoops', it is one of the fastest of all birds and can reach the amazing speed of 300 kilometres per hour.
In the early 1960s, it was discovered that many peregrines were dying mysteriously. The cause was finally traced to chemicals — such as DDT and dieldrin — which were used on grain crops to kill insects. Pigeons and other birds fed on the treated grain and the peregrine then ate these birds. The poison built up inside the peregrine's body as it ate more and more birds. Hundreds of peregrines died as a result.
In Britain, the use of the most harmful chemicals is now controlled. This means that the danger to the peregrine is not so great and their numbers are beginning to build up again, but in most parts of Europe chemicals are still used freely and the peregrine is still in danger.
All sorts of other dangers face the peregrine — egg collectors, gamekeepers guarding their grouse, and falconers looking for peregrine chicks to train.
Falconry is the sport in which falcons and other birds of prey are used to hunt game. It first became popular in eastern countries centuries ago, even before man learned to write. Merchants and travellers returning from the East brought the sport to Europe. The peregrine was one of the most popular falcons and was the bird which was used by kings.
In those days there were fairly large numbers of peregrines, so no one worried too much about chicks being taken from their nests. Today things are very different, for the peregrine is now rare throughout the whole of its range.
In Britain the Bird Protection Act allows only falconers with proper permits to remove chicks from eyries. In recent years very few permits have been given. Many other countries have similar laws.
Unfortunately, there are still people who are ready to break these laws and in some places raids by falconers have greatly reduced the numbers of wild peregrines. In one year about a fifth of the nests, or eyries, in the United Kingdom were robbed by egg thieves and falconers.
In the United States, birds have been bred in captivity and then returned to areas where peregrines had been wiped out by DDT. Young birds were put into the nests of wild peregrines whose own eggs had not hatched. Others were raised in captivity and then carefully trained back to the wild.
The peregrine is now in danger in most European countries. In Britain it appears to be recovering, thanks to the protection there. In other countries peregrines could certainly be helped by the same sort of protection. We should also learn from the story of the peregrine that the uncontrolled use of chemicals in farming may be harmful not only to all kinds of wildlife, but perhaps also to man.
