If you want to talk about the fastest animal in the world, then the cheetah must be on the list.
Then in front of the "peregrine falcon", even the cheetah has to go back in the row, because the "peregrine falcon" is three times faster than the cheetah, and it is also known as the "sky hunter".
Not only that, but the speed of the "Peregrine Falcon" is even faster than the speed of our high-speed train.
Peregrine Falcon
The name "Peregrine Falcon" actually sounds like it has a British style, giving people a feeling of "prince fan".
Peregrine falcons, on the other hand, belong to the falcon family and are considered a type of birds of prey.
You can imagine what kind of animal comes to mind when we think of falcons.
Peregrine falcon is one of the most well-known members of the falcon family, a bird that is distributed all over the world, and we can also see peregrine falcons in some coastal areas of the mainland.
When people see a peregrine falcon for the first time, they will be shocked by its "outrageously long" wings.
You know, the body length of the peregrine falcon is about 38-50 centimeters, and when its wings are spread, it can even reach about a meter.
In other words, the wingspan of a peregrine falcon is actually equal to the length of two of its bodies.
When it spreads its wings and flies through the air, the image is very shocking.
And this seemingly very "ferocious" bird has a "tender like water" heart behind it.
Falcon animals are basically monogamous, and the peregrine falcon is no exception, and it is very loyal to its feelings.
In their concept of marriage, it has always been "lifelong companionship", in the middle of March every year, in some areas can see pairs of peregrine falcons flying in the sky, giving people a kind of "only envy mandarin ducks but not immortals" artistic conception.
Although they are not very large, they are very picky about where they live.
In general, peregrine falcons live in areas such as river valleys and cliffs that are difficult for creatures to reach, so that they can survive well and also need to find a safe place to reproduce.
Before the peregrine falcon is hatched, the male and female peregrine falcons will take turns to hatch their eggs, and it basically only takes a month for the baby peregrine falcon to hatch successfully.
However, during the hatching period, adult peregrine falcons are very sensitive to their territory, and if they find that there are undesirable animals around them, they will immediately enter a "fighting mode".
When the little peregrine falcon first learned to fly, they did not leave the nest to earn a living on their own, as other birds do, but stayed at home and lived with their parents.
Therefore, they need to find an "absolutely safe" place, otherwise, it will be difficult to ensure that their offspring grow up healthy.
In this way, the character of peregrine falcons is actually very "kind", but in fact, in the air, they can even be said to be "invincible".
Air fighter
If the wings of peregrine falcons are amazing, the speed at which they fly is simply stunning.
According to relevant data, the maximum speed of the peregrine falcon can even reach 389 kilometers per hour when diving and hunting.
You must know that the speed of high-speed rail is generally 200 to 350 kilometers per hour, and the fastest speed is 350 kilometers per hour.
In this way, the speed of the peregrine falcon is much faster than that of a high-speed train, and it only takes a second to fly directly over a football field.
However, the speed of the peregrine falcon is not so fast, and the normal flight speed is about 100 kilometers per hour.
When it comes to hunting, peregrine falcons are actually different from other birds.
While many birds hunt animals on the ground, peregrine falcons hunt mostly in the air, although occasionally swoop to the ground to hunt other prey.
You must know that in the entire natural world, only animals with strong enough combat effectiveness can eat fresh food, and peregrine falcons are such an existence.
Once they spot their prey, they quickly rise into the air, then fold their wings, shorten their necks, and dive vertically when they find an opportunity.
When they are about to approach their prey, they will directly spread their wings, which are larger than their bodies, and hook their prey with their feet.
Although the whole process is a bit tedious, in the actual operation of the peregrine falcon, it only takes a few seconds, or even only a second.
The reason why the peregrine falcon flies so fast is actually entirely due to its innate advantages, which can be regarded as an "iron rice bowl" given by God.
In other words, the peregrine falcon is small, but this also happens to be its advantage, because the larger the size of the flight, the greater the resistance, which is obviously not the case with the peregrine falcon.
Not only that, but peregrine falcons have an extra layer of eyelids on the outside of their eyes, which protects their eyeballs to a great extent.
The reputation of the peregrine falcon is also famous overseas, and many high-end weapons in the world are named after the peregrine falcon.
For a long time, peregrine falcons were actually the "favorite" of falcon trainers.
Some people are busy training peregrine falcons every day, wanting to train it to be a game bird, and then sell it at a high price to some people in Europe and the United States who like "excitement".
And some people will go to the wild to find the peregrine falcon by themselves, and then try to catch it in their hands and take it home for their own training.
It can be said that for a long time, training peregrine falcons has even become a trend in Europe and the United States.
However, in 2019, the peregrine falcon was listed in Appendices I, II and III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
National second-class protected animals
Although it is true that peregrine falcons exist at the top of the food chain, it cannot be denied that there are not many of them at all.
Some people say that after all, the king is always lonely, although this sentence makes sense, but it is not the same thing as the "loneliness" of the peregrine falcon.
Because the decline in the number of peregrine falcons is actually very related to the abuse of pesticides by humans.
In many countries in Europe, people usually use some highly toxic chlorinated seed fertilizers when growing crops, and they are used in large quantities.
Although peregrine falcons do not directly come into contact with pesticide-sprinkled crops, after all, the food chain is progressive, and as long as an animal eats this kind of thing, then the peregrine falcon may be poisoned.
What is even more infuriating is that in the early 20th century, the United States invented an insecticide called "DDT", when the peregrine falcon fell into a state of extinction.
It took a century of rescue work to ease the peregrine falcon population.
Information sources:
People's Information "Peregrine Falcon, the peak of speed in the history of biological evolution, come and find out"2021-11-22 09:52