15-inch, Life-Size Peregrine Falcon
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This 15-inch, Life-Size Peregrine Falcon carving was hand-crafted from solid Basswood. The crown and nape of the Peregrine Falcon is black with a black wedge extending below the eyes, forming a distinctive helmet which is absent in the Prairie Falcon and the smaller Merlin. The tail is shorter than in the Prairie Falcon and the wing tips almost reach the end. The Peregrine Falcon also lacks the dark bar and axillaries on the underwings. The plumage of the Peregren Falcon varies from pale in the Northern sub-species, tundrius, to very dark in the sub-species, pealei, found from Queen Charlotte Islands to the Aleutians. In pealei, the largest race, the adult has heavy spotting on a whitish breast, and the underparts are very dark. The intermediate race, anatum, has the thickest moustachial stripe and the adult anatum shows a rufous wash below; the juvenile anatum is dark-brownish above and the under-parts are heavily streaked. Juvenile tundrius has a pale eyebrow and larger pale area on the side of the face with underparts more finely streaked. Peregrine Falcons inhabit open wetlands near cliffs and prey chiefly on birds. Now established also in cities where they nest on bridges and tall buildings.
Reference
National Geographic Field Guide To The Birds of North America, Fifth Edition, Page 140
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