Colorado Falcon
Today we started at the bottom of Mount Falcon at The Morrison Town Park and hiked 2.5 miles up Castle Trail, which was an 1,600 feet incline. It took us almost 4 hours to get to the Summer Whistle House Site and about 1 hour to get back down. I fell twice.
So what is a falcon? Falcons are raptors, or birds of prey, and though related to the hawks and eagles, they belong to a separate family — Falconidae. Falcons are found throughout the world, except for Antarctica and some islands. The archetypal falcon is a hunter of birds, plummeting down upon its prey in a high-speed dive, called a stoop, and slashing or knocking prey from the air. By contrast, buteo hawks like the red-tailed typically soar in the air or sit on a high perch searching for prey on the ground. They drop down on prey and make the kill on the ground. Accipiters such as the sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks hunt prey in the forest, darting between trees or flying suddenly out from hiding to grab a bird or squirrel. Falcons kill using both their bill and their feet, seizing prey in their talons, then biting the back of the animal's neck. Falcons have notched bills, an adaptation for this killing bite. Hawks and eagles primarily use their talons to crush and pierce their prey. While eagles, osprey and hawks build bulky nests of sticks, falcons don't build nests at all, often laying their eggs on bare cliff ledges or in tree cavities, occasionally using the old nests of ravens and other birds. Some species, such as kestrels, regularly use nest boxes.
Three falcons nest in Colorado—the American kestrel, the prairie falcon and the American peregrine falcon subspecies. Arctic peregrine falcons, another subspecies, migrate through Colorado.
If any one bird epitomizes the falcon family, it is the peregrine. Even its name, which means wanderer, implies something untamed and free. This sleek and beautiful falcon inhabits wild country of cliffs and canyons, nesting on remote ledges. Though nicknamed "duck hawk," peregrines have never been a threat to waterfowl. They hunt all types of birds, including flickers, swallows and swifts, songbirds, shorebirds and pigeons. To see a peregrine stooping on prey is to witness one of nature's spectacular feats. Peregrines are the fastest creatures on earth, capable of aerial dives reaching as much as 200 mph.
Song of the Day:
Cake - The Distance
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