World’s Fastest Animal

Peregrine falcons are the world’s fastest animals, and one of nature’s most successful predators. With exceptional eyes (twice as good as the hawk’s), sharp talons and beak, they can move three times faster than a cheetah, reaching speeds up to 200 mph. Filmmaker Simon Baxter’s PBS-aired Nature documentary holds up the Peregrine falcon as a testament to the survival of the fittest. Nearly wiped out by the DDT pesticide, the bird can adapt to almost any environment, and is found on every continent, except Antarctica. Surprisingly, they have made a home in big cities, nesting in high rises, where rising thermal air currents, 24-hour lighting, and abundant prey such as pigeons and sparrows provide for a good life. The falcon’s eyes take up to 50 percent of its skull, enabling it to detect targets at great distances, while its strong bones and stiff tail aids in navigation and the ability to survive hard impacts (the bird generally avoids the ground and must maneuver around the city’s many obstacles). Trainers in rural Scotland help orphaned chicks prepare for life in the wild, where their astonishing capabilities—like a food pass among birds in mid-air, and the "stoop" dive from great heights in which falcons, wings folded against the body, free fall to catch prey by surprise—enable them to thrive. The documentary also shows the trial and error process in which parents teach young and inexperienced chicks to hunt. And the footage is spectacular, with drones helping to provide a bird’s eye view of one of the world’s greatest hunters. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)