How Fast Is The Hunting Falcon To Pounce?

The speed of the hunting hawk to pounce

The falcon is a bird of the falcon family. It has a short hooked beak, strong legs that end in hooked claws, long pointed wings, a streamlined body, and sharp eyesight. The falcon hunts its prey by swooping down on it from above . The natural peregrine falcon ranges between 64-79 km/h, but its speed when swooping down on prey reaches an average of 354 km/h, while the highest swooping speed recorded was 390 km/h, and research indicates that the high speed of the falcon is During hunting and pounce, it gives it great ability to maneuver and spin in flight, which makes it more powerful in killing prey.

The falcon’s body is adapted for rapid flight

The falcon is able to fly at a high speed while pouncing on its prey thanks to a number of characteristics, which are:

The size of the sternum or carpel: the carpel which is the fulcrum of the flight muscles – is distinguished by its large size, which increases the falcon’s ability to fly.
The strength of the flight muscles: The falcon’s chest muscles are characterized by strength, which enables it to move the wings very quickly.
Red muscle fibers: The muscles of the falcon consist of many red muscle fibers that are characterized by their ability to absorb oxygen greatly, which enables the falcon to produce energy with high efficiency.
Efficiency of the respiratory system: The falcon’s lungs and alveoli are characterized by efficiency, which increases their ability to supply oxygen to the muscles.
The size and strength of the heart: The falcon’s heart is distinguished by its large size, which increases the pumping of oxygen-laden blood to the muscles.

Factors that help the falcon to hunt efficiently

The success of the falcon in hunting depends not only on the speed of its flight during the pounce on the prey, but also on the sharpness of its vision, and the speed of its eye response to visual effects, or what is known as the speed of vision, as the speed of vision of the mobile falcon is 129 Hz (i.e. 129 blinks or flashes per second) While the speed of vision of the gazelle falcon or the Saker Falcon is 102 Hz, while the Harris hawk has a speed of vision of 77 Hz. The peregrine falcon hunts birds that fly very quickly, while Harris’s hawk preys on small mammals that are less fast.