This is one cool raptor and not one I usually get to photograph in the wild. Most recently, this past summer, I saw one in southwestern Colorado as it terrorized a flock of white-faced ibis. They are notoriously shy and extremely fast movers so it isn’t often you get a chance to photograph one.
This particular one is a captive bird used by HawkQuest as an educational bird. They placed it on a perfect perch and the falcon was more than willing to put on a nice show from there. Here, it spreads its wings giving a nice look at that beautiful plumage and 3 1/2-foot wingspan.
Here in Colorado you will most often find them in the foothills where they like to nest on cliffs and maintain watch from high above their prey below. They think nothing of taking down smaller birds in-flight after diving at speeds that can approach 200mph!
Like many raptors, the peregrine falcon was nearly eradicated in the 20th century due to the use of pesticides like DDT. Thankfully, we wised up, stop using the poison and peregrines like other raptors that were impacted are rebounding nicely.
