Aggressive birds may dive within a metre of intruders or even strike them, screaming a high-pitched cack-cack-cack. Peregrines become excited and sometimes aggressive when humans approach their nests, particularly if young are present. Traditionally, the female has been known as the “falcon” and the male as the “tercel.” Signs and sounds Some Peregrines have lived 18 to 20 years, but the average life span is much shorter. Their powerful talons and strong hooked beak, equipped with a notch or “tooth” that aids in severing the spinal cord of avian prey, mark them as highly specialized predators. In flight they use quick, powerful wing strokes. Generally smaller and more streamlined than hawks, Peregrines, like all falcons, have small heads, firm compact plumage, and long pointed wings-adaptations that allow them to fly at great speed. Young Peregrines have upperparts whose colour varies from pale to slate or chocolate brown and underparts that are buffy with blackish streaks. The throat is white and the underparts are white to buff, with blackish brown bars on the sides, thighs, abdomen, underwings, and lower breast area. The Peregrine’s most reliable distinguishing features are the blackish malar, or cheek, stripe below the eye and the dark bluish-grey or slate-coloured crown, back, and upper surface of the wings. Adult females are larger than males, measuring 45 to 59 cm and weighing about 910 g, compared with the males’ length of 36 to 49 cm and weight of about 570 g. The Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus is a sturdy crow-sized falcon.
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