Thus, they often hunt over open water, marshes, valleys, fields and tundras. A peregrine hunts from the wing or from a high perch. It spots prey with keen eyes and begins its stoop, a streamlined dive with tail and wings folded and feet lying back. The falcon hits its prey with its foot, stunning or killing it, then swoops back around to catch it in mid-air. If the prey is too heavy to carry, the peregrine will let it fall to the ground and eat it there.
Peregrines pluck their prey before eating it.
Despite their reputation as able predators, peregrines often miss their strike and the prey escapes. During a stoop, peregrines may reach speeds of 200 mph. The air pressure from this bullet-like plunge might burst an ordinary bird's lungs. It's thought that the series of baffles in a peregrine's nostrils slow the wind velocity, enabling the bird to breathe while diving. Breeding Biology Peregrines first breed when two or three years old.