### animal | vertebrate | bird | raptor | hawk | falcon:

Peregrine
* All peregrines share the characteristics of basic falcons, a short slim tail and tapered wings.
* Most peregrines become sexually mature at two or three years of age
  - live on Asia
* are about the size and weight of crows
  - of a crow and have black marks that look like a mustache
  - also swift fliers that can simply fly up behind their prey and grab it in mid-flight
  - at the top of the food chain
  - captive-bred
  - compact, fast birds with pointed wings
  - dark on the back, and usually have a light breast and a heavily barred belly
  - fast fliers
  - fast, aggressive creatures and are on top of their food chain
  - favored by falconers, and have been used in that sport for many centuries
  - found all over the world except in Antarctica and the Pacific Islands
  - individuals with different personalities
  - numerous and merlins have been seen recently
  - one of the fastest animals on earth
  - predators of small to mid-sized birds
  - slate gray or dark brown above and whitish below
  - territorial during the breeding season
* are the fastest animal on earth
  - monogamous birds of prey and they return to the same nesting spot each year
  - traditional birds of falconry
* are very aerial
  - aggressive to intruders, and fears no other birds but the gyrfalcon
  - wanderers until they reach maturity at two years of age
* begin reproducing when they are three years old.
* can adapt well to urban environments
  - easily overtake most birds in level flight
  - eat as much as one-quarter of their weight at one sitting
* can, in one sitting, eat a meal weighing as much as one quarter of their own weight.
* do all their hunting in the air.
* eat a variety of birds, ranging in size from small songbirds to ducks
  - birds and other things that fly
  - other birds and things that fly
* feed almost entirely on birds, including sparrows, starlings, and pigeons
  - on mid-sized birds, such as starlings and songbirds
* fly above their prey.
* generally do keep the same mate from year to year
  - hunt by diving on their prey from great heights
  - mate for life, returning each year to the same area and even the same nest
* have a breeding range coming from Arctic tundra to the tropics
  - period of high courtship activity that occurs before the actual mating begins
  - black heads, with white throats and breasts
  - few natural predators
  - only one stripe which is fairly wide, on each side
  - very long tails and wingtips
* hunt very much by sight.
* like to live in wetlands, alpine meadows, or tundra habitat.
* like to nest atop tall buildings
  - on ledges and cliffs in the natural world
* measure sixteen to twenty inches long, with a wingspan up to forty-six inches.
* nest at the top of cliffs close to waterways where they hunt smaller birds
  - high on cliffs, usually near water
  - successfully in large cities on top of tall buildings
* normally nest in remote areas high atop steep cliffs.
* now breed in many mountainous and coastal areas, especially in the west and north.
* pluck their prey before eating it.
* prefer to nest on high ledges near open areas
  - tundra, while gyrfalcons prefer the northern edges of boreal forests
* pursue their prey from a perch or while soaring.
* regularly prey on waders.
* remain an endangered species in the commonwealth.
* show a strong solid helmet which comes down to form a pointed cheek patch.
* take the smaller auklets and the storm petrels
  - their prey in flight, so they dine almost exclusively on other birds
* tend to become rather more territorial during the breeding season.
* typically nest on ledges of rock cliffs.
* usually nest on high, remote, cliff ledges.