Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a powerful crow-sized falcon with pointed wings, a blue-grey back, barred pale underparts and a dark hood and moustache. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It hunts birds in exceptionally fast aerial pursuits and steep dives across cliffs, coasts, wetlands and cities, nesting on ledges or tall structures rather than building a stick nest. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).