Peregrine falcon

When a peregrine folds its wings and drops on prey, the dive (called a stoop) is estimated to reach about 320 km/h. In ordinary level flight it is far slower, nearer 70 mph at its best.

Dive speeds are hard to measure in the wild. Some sources quote higher single readings, but 200 mph is the figure Guinness uses.

Context

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) hunts other birds in mid-air. It climbs high, then folds its wings and drops in a steep dive called a stoop, striking its prey with its feet. The dive is what earns the speed record; in ordinary flight it is a fast bird, not a record-breaker.

The figure is hard to pin down because wild dives are difficult to measure. Researchers have used radar, tracking devices on trained birds and skydivers filming alongside, and readings differ. Some experiments with trained falcons have reported speeds close to 390 km/h, while Guinness and many reference works use about 320 km/h (200 mph), which is why we show the conservative, widely cited number.

Peregrines live on every continent except Antarctica. In the mid-20th century the pesticide DDT thinned their eggshells and the species collapsed across North America and Europe. After DDT was banned in the United States in 1972 and chicks were bred and released, numbers recovered, and the bird was removed from the US endangered species list in 1999.