Page 52 - How It Works - Book of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, 12

��vu·� �VESTIONS ---------------------------------------------

Sight
Prey is spotted while soaring and then the
peregrine begins to draw its wings into its body. It
also retracts its tail and tucks its feet into its body.

Streamline
The wings are brought right into the falcon's sternum
and, thanks to their pointed, slim, stiff and unslotted
feathers, it begins to rapidly reduce its air resistance.

Velocity
Speed is increased as the falcon bombs down with
little-to-zero drag, soon reaching speeds up to
200m ph. Its strong keel helps maintain structural
solidity during the dive and its eyes are kept clear by
nictitating membranes, which act like a third eyelid.
Contact
Prey is both struck and
captured in mid-air. The
peregrine strikes its prey
with a clenched foot,
which due to the immense
speed either stuns or kills
it, before then swooping
jl)erIJ!efull, round to catch it with its
large claws. Prey is always
the peregrine falcon consumed on the ground.
is incredibly quick
fyou thought the cheetah was fast, been finely honed to max1m1se speed,
then think again. The peregrine evolving over millions of years into the
falcon blows its top speed out of swift and efficient killer it is today. For
the water by over 130mph. Capable of example, the peregrine's keel -which
hitting a monumental2oomph during a is located at its breastbone -is
stoop (dive), the falcon has the highest significantly larger than average birds',
top speed of any animal on Earth. allowing for bigger muscles and a
The peregrine's speed is caused by a greater number to attach its wings to its
combination of factors. Firstly it makes body. This allows it to generate far more
use of gravity, diving upon its prey from power per thrust when building speed.
great height, even when they Further, the peregrine's wings have
themselves are airborne. Secondly, its evolved to be incredibly pointed, with
anatomy- as with the cheetah's - has slim, stiff and unslotted feathers,
which helps streamlining and reducing
air resistance significantly.
Unlike the cheetah, however,
arguably the peregrine handles its
awesome speed much better. Firstly,
while having the same enlarged heart
and lungs, the peregrine does not suffer
damage from oxygen deprivation at the
close of its stoop. This is partly due to
gravity's beneficial aid in generating its
killer speed but also due to the
peregrine's ability to absorb oxygen
through its red muscle fibres, of which
it has many. This allows it to keep a
steady oxygen flow a tall times and If you thought the cheetah
means that, consequentially, it does
not need to rest post-kill, reducing its was fast, then think again
vulnerability to scavengers.

52 How It TtOrks WorldMags.net
WorldMags.net