The peregrine falcon is a crow-sized bird with pointed wings, a narrow tail and a rapid wingbeat.
Adults have slate-blue colored backs.
The underparts are cream-colored with horizontal bars. This falcon has a black face pattern resembling sideburns. Peregrines pursue their prey from a perch or while soaring. The peregrine falcon has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution, breeding on almost every continent except Antarctica. The peregrine is a rare summer resident of the Black Hills and Slim Buttes, formerly breeding in South Dakota.