How Fast Can a Peregrine Falcon Fly? Dive Speed Facts

How fast is the peregrine’s hunting dive?

The peregrine falcon hunts other birds in open air. It climbs high above its target, or waits on a cliff or tall building, and then folds its wings and drops in a steep dive. Gravity does most of the work: the falcon pulls its wings in close, tucks its feet against its body and turns itself into a smooth, compact shape that cuts through the air.

How fast a stoop gets depends mostly on how high the falcon starts and how steeply it falls. A short, shallow dive at a duck just above a lake may top out well below 200 km/h (124 mph). A long, near-vertical drop from hundreds of meters up allows the bird to keep accelerating, and this is where speeds above 300 km/h (186 mph) come from. Some measurements of wild peregrines making everyday hunting dives have recorded top speeds well under 200 km/h, which is a reminder that the record figures are maximums, not routine speeds.

The 389 km/h record

The best-known figure comes from experiments by American falconer Ken Franklin, filmed for National Geographic. Franklin took his trained peregrine, named Frightful, on skydives and measured her speed as she stooped through the air beside him. Her top speed was measured at about 389 km/h (242 mph).

This is an impressive and widely quoted number, but it has limits. It comes from a trained bird diving from far higher than wild peregrines usually start, so wild falcons rarely, if ever, reach it while hunting. A physics study of an “ideal falcon” calculated that the theoretical limit is around 400 km/h (250 mph) at low altitude, and higher in the thin air at great heights, so the record is close to what a peregrine’s body can achieve.

How fast does a peregrine fly in level flight?

In flapping, level flight the peregrine is a strong but not record-breaking flier. Typical cruising speeds are roughly 65–90 km/h (40–56 mph), and it can fly faster for short bursts when chasing prey. Many ducks, pigeons and shorebirds fly at similar speeds, which is why the falcon relies on the stoop rather than a level chase.

The best-measured level-flight speed of any bird belongs to the common swift, filmed at about 112 km/h (70 mph) in Sweden. Our article how fast can a swift fly? looks at that record and other fast fliers.

A body built for the stoop

Several features let the peregrine survive and steer at extreme speeds:

• Streamlined shape. In a full stoop the wings are folded tightly against the body in a diamond or teardrop shape, reducing drag.
• Stiff, narrow feathers. The long, pointed wings and firm flight feathers resist being bent or torn by the airflow.
• Nostril tubercles. Small bony cones in the nostrils are thought to slow and redirect the incoming air so the falcon can keep breathing.
• Third eyelid. A clear nictitating membrane sweeps across each eye, spreading tears and clearing dust while the falcon keeps watching its target.
• Fast vision. Peregrines process changes in what they see far faster than humans, helping them track small, fast-moving prey.
• Powerful chest muscles and a strong skeleton, which help it pull out of a dive and absorb the shock of striking prey.

Why does the peregrine dive so fast?

Speed alone does not explain the stoop. Prey birds such as pigeons and starlings are much more agile than a falcon, and at normal speeds they can dodge away. In 2018, researchers at the University of Groningen and the University of Oxford used computer simulations to test different attack strategies. They found that a high-speed stoop actually improves a falcon’s ability to steer and correct its path at the last moment, because the faster airflow gives its wings more force to maneuver. That makes a high-speed dive the most successful way to catch agile prey.

The falcon usually hits the prey with its clenched feet, stunning or killing it, then swings around to catch it in midair. If it misses, it can use its momentum to climb back up and try again.

Peregrine speed compared with other animals

Even allowing for the help that gravity gives it, no other animal is known to match a stooping peregrine. For more record holders on land, in the air and in water, see the fastest animals in the world and how fast is a cheetah?.