Aerial Battle - Peregrine Falcon v Racing Pigeon
Discussion
This evening I witnessed one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen take place in the natural world. I was sat in the garden with family at my uncles farm, he races pigeons and let them out for a fly around whilst we all caught up. My brother then spotted a peregrine falcon in pursuit of the team of pigeons and alerted us.
I watched on in complete nervousness as the pigeons climbed higher and higher to avoid the bird of prey, however they could only go so high before the peregrine gained the higher altitude as it circled them. Then, just as it turned into a small dot in the sky, I witnessed the deadly swoop of this amazing bird diving for the flock at 45° it seemed to pick the pigeon that lost its nerve first and bolted from the team and off it went after it. Speed?! This thing went like nothing I've seen before! Wings clasped close to the body and head nailed forward in the direction of the victim. I then knew the inevitable was going to happen as it gained awesome acceleration and hit maximum velocity within an astonishingly short period of time. It braced itself for impact, ready to annihilate the diving pigeon. However, in a moment of pure agility and split second reaction, the pigeon then turned, spiralled and shot back up into the sky in the opposite direction evading its would be assassin. The peregrine then tried to pursue the escaping prey in a desperate attempt to justify its unsuccessful attack but the racing pigeon only gained distance from the peregrine flying horizontally as the falcon ran out of speed and stamina on the wing whilst in pursit.
The peregrine gave up, again heading for the original team looking for revenge, again another awesome dive, this time though, it couldn't make its mind up on the target and the racing pigeons yet again evaded the attack.
I was physically stunned and left in awe at the speed and agility of both creatures and have massive respect for both. I'm now off to have a gander at the top trumps of the bird world and compare the two on paper and read up a bit on both birds!.. Well, after a cuppa!!
I watched on in complete nervousness as the pigeons climbed higher and higher to avoid the bird of prey, however they could only go so high before the peregrine gained the higher altitude as it circled them. Then, just as it turned into a small dot in the sky, I witnessed the deadly swoop of this amazing bird diving for the flock at 45° it seemed to pick the pigeon that lost its nerve first and bolted from the team and off it went after it. Speed?! This thing went like nothing I've seen before! Wings clasped close to the body and head nailed forward in the direction of the victim. I then knew the inevitable was going to happen as it gained awesome acceleration and hit maximum velocity within an astonishingly short period of time. It braced itself for impact, ready to annihilate the diving pigeon. However, in a moment of pure agility and split second reaction, the pigeon then turned, spiralled and shot back up into the sky in the opposite direction evading its would be assassin. The peregrine then tried to pursue the escaping prey in a desperate attempt to justify its unsuccessful attack but the racing pigeon only gained distance from the peregrine flying horizontally as the falcon ran out of speed and stamina on the wing whilst in pursit.
The peregrine gave up, again heading for the original team looking for revenge, again another awesome dive, this time though, it couldn't make its mind up on the target and the racing pigeons yet again evaded the attack.
I was physically stunned and left in awe at the speed and agility of both creatures and have massive respect for both. I'm now off to have a gander at the top trumps of the bird world and compare the two on paper and read up a bit on both birds!.. Well, after a cuppa!!
Must have been amazing to see, not somthing I have been lucky enough to witness! I have been licky enough to see quite a few Sparrow Hawkes catch birds on the wing as well as seeing an Osprey catch a trout od some sort in Yellowstone! Best bird action I have seen was a Golden Eagel and a Baldheaded Eagle fight over a dead turkey in the Rockies!
Rollin said:
Brilliant. Saw the Manchester Arndale peregrines the other week. Seem to be fewer pigeons about 
Went to Hedingham a few years ago and saw the Falconry Guy. He had a big hawk out and as it flew around the castle two ducks came the other way, saw the hawk, and did a very cartoon style stop and turn around and run the other way... For some reason there weren't many other birds in the area for the whole time of the display..............Years ago I worked in Canary Wharf, in a building originally intended as a hotel but later converted to offices.
19 floors up, one afternoon we saw a kestrel snatch a feral pigeon out of mid-air, land on the balcony with it, rip its wings off and eat it.
A roomful of the jaded and the cynical were
in awe.
19 floors up, one afternoon we saw a kestrel snatch a feral pigeon out of mid-air, land on the balcony with it, rip its wings off and eat it.
A roomful of the jaded and the cynical were
in awe.A couple of years ago, a Sparrowhawk caught a blackbird in our garden. I saw a black streak followed by a brown one zoom across the garden and there was a "bang" as the sparrow hawk hit the blackbird really hard. The bang was so loud I thought they had flown into the fence.
Sparrowhawk 1 Blackbird nil
Sparrowhawk 1 Blackbird nil
Pigeon said:
Yay pigeons 
Falcons can do 200mph in a dive but pigeons can do 100mph in level flight.
Having a white arse helps too.
How ironic?! Falcons can do 200mph in a dive but pigeons can do 100mph in level flight.
Having a white arse helps too.
ApexJimi said:
Top Gun with feathers 
Superb story PD9, I really enjoyed reading that
Thanks Apex. Superb story PD9, I really enjoyed reading that
Thinking back I'm still amazed! I peeked into the skies several times today to see if it returned. I just wish I ran in, grabbed my camera and recorded it to share!
Racing pigeons are in a different league evolutionary and speed wise to their Feral 'cousins' (easy city pickings and dirty buggers).
As noted by a previous poster, this really is the aerial equivalent of the Cheetah and Thomson's gazelle of the bird world. 2 species in thier natural prime displaying outstanding aerial combat, attack and evasion techniques.
Anyone around Bristol who wants to watch peregrines should head to the Gorge and have a look as the pair there had 5 chicks this year that are all flying in the gorge at the moment and probably will still be around for a couple more weeks.
I was attempting to get pics of them the other day but found it impossible to get anything remotely decent as even when they're just pissing about they still fly so fast that you can't keep up with them.
Saw two sharing a pigeon on the rocks, one attempting to take down a seagull over the river, one which came right up on to the downs and missed a blackbird then landed between two crows and stole whatever it was they were eating. They're everywhere
I was attempting to get pics of them the other day but found it impossible to get anything remotely decent as even when they're just pissing about they still fly so fast that you can't keep up with them.
Saw two sharing a pigeon on the rocks, one attempting to take down a seagull over the river, one which came right up on to the downs and missed a blackbird then landed between two crows and stole whatever it was they were eating. They're everywhere
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