Trivia: What is the fastest moving bird? The fastest bird known is the Peregrine Falcon. These birds can dive at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour! They have a unique way of hunting for food - they dive at their prey so fast that they overtake it by surprise, catching it in mid-air, and the speed kills the prey instantly. They are diurnal - they hunt during the day. The capture takes less than 2 minutes! (Other bird flight speeds range from a relatively slow 27 miles per hour for the hummingbirds, 32 miles per hour for the American Robin, 60 miles per hour for the Mallard and the Barn Swallow, 72 miles per hour for some ducks, and 90 miles per hour for the Common Loon). The Scientific Name comes from Latin "Falco Peregrinus" which means wandering falcon, traveler, or foreigner. Peregrines are the most well known of the falcons. Peregrines adapt to their environment and live on every continent except Antarctica. They can live in the mountains, deserts, forests, on sea cliffs, in cities and large urban areas. In the city it has been observed that falcons don't like to land on the ground - even if their meal falls to the ground, they won't go get it. In fact, they don't usually fly lower than the level of their nest. They vary in size depending on where they live - the biggest are in Alaska. Some like to migrate south to Latin America in the winter. They can migrate as far as 10,000 miles. Peregrines can live up to 17 years and the female is called a falcon while the male is called a tiercel.
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