The Story
I photographed Sparky, a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), at the Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka, Florida, United States, in October 2020, with a sharply hooked beak and keen eyes. The Peregrine is the world’s most widespread raptor, absent among the large ice-free landmasses only from New Zealand. It has done well in cities, nesting on tall buildings and hunting pigeons and ducks. It reaches maturity at one year and mates for life, nesting in a scrape on a cliff edge or a tall structure. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. The center raises nestlings with surrogate parents and gives a permanent home to raptors that would not survive on their own.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) belongs to the family Falconidae (Falcons and Caracaras) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List
