Urban peregrines

admin
, 10 July 2018
Urban peregrines
Hugh Clark FRPS

By Charlotte Owen

WildCall Officer

Our towns and cities may seem unlikely locations for a spot of birdwatching but next time you’re in the urban jungle, look up - the world’s fastest animal could be soaring overhead. 

The peregrine falcon is built for speed and streamlined to aerodynamic perfection with pointed, swept-back wings and specialised feathers to minimise drag.  It is powered by huge flight muscles attached to an enlarged breastbone so that each flap of the wings provides maximum propulsion.  Peregrines can travel at 40 – 60 mph in level flight, which is one of the fastest speeds clocked by any bird – imagine looking out of the car window to see a 1 kg bird keeping pace alongside you on a stretch of dual carriageway.  But even this pales in comparison to the eye-watering speed of a hunting peregrine, which can top 200 mph when it enters a controlled dive in pursuit of a pigeon dinner.  Upon catching sight of its potential prey, a cruising peregrine will tuck its scimitar wings into its body, fold its tail and draw in its feet to become a feathered missile plunging towards earth.  If you’ve ever opened the car window at 60 mph you’ll know how difficult it is to breathe when the air is rushing into your face at such speed but a rapidly accelerating peregrine manages to do so thanks to specialised nostrils that slow the air flow.  To maintain vision, their large eyes have specialised protective membranes and secretory glands that act like built-in goggles, while the dark markings around the eyes help to reduce glare.  As this speeding bullet of a bird approaches its prey it prepares for a precision strike, opening its talons before impacting with such force that it’s all over before the pigeon knows what hit it.

There are plenty of pigeons in the city but the buildings themselves are a big draw too.  Peregrines would naturally nest high up on craggy cliff faces, safe from predators and with an excellent view of potential prey.  Cathedral spires, power stations and other tall buildings provide the same opportunities and these incredible birds will readily make the most of them, adapting to thrive in the urban environment.  

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783486054.41970 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783486054.44890.0292Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783486054.4490.0002Server address: 216.73.217.142
1783486054.44910Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783486054.44910Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/urban-peregrines
    [s] => urban-peregrines
    [1] => urban-peregrines
)
1783486054.44930.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783486054.45010.0007 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783486054.45180.0017 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783486054.45230.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783486054.45390.0017 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22766250
1783486054.45440.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22766250
1783486054.45510.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-08 04:47:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-08 04:47:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783486054.45650.0014 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='urban-peregrines')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-08 04:47:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783486054.460.0035 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783486054.46070.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1575 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-08 04:47:00'
1783486054.46220.0015 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783486054.46280.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783486054.46330.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=181 LIMIT 1
1783486054.46390.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783486054.46430.0003 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783486054.46520.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-08 04:47:00' AND postSlug='urban-peregrines'
1783486054.48620.021Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783486054.48690.0007 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783486054.48850.0016Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783486054.48870.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783486054.48940.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783486054.49080.0014 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783486054.49440.0035 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783486054.49580.0014 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783486054.49790.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783486054.4980 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783486054.49880.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783486054.49930.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783486054.51060.0114 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783486054.51170.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783486054.51240.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783486054.51560.0032 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783486054.51610.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783486054.51810.002 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783486054.51860.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783486054.51890.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783486054.51950.0006Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783486054.51990.0003 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='urban-peregrines')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-08 04:47:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783486054.52170.0019 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783486054.52220.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783486054.52530.0031Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783486054.52630.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1575 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783486054.57450.0482 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783486054.57470.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783486054.57490.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783486054.57560.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783486054.57620.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783486054.57680.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783486054.57880.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783486054.57930.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783486054.5810.0018 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783486054.58240.0014 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783486054.58290.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783486054.58320.0003 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783486054.58530.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783486054.58560.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783486054.58750.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783486054.59080.0033 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783486054.59120.0004 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783486054.59150.0003 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783486054.59360.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783486054.5940.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783486054.59580.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783486054.59750.0017 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783486054.59810.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783486054.59860.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783486054.60060.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783486054.60110.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783486054.60290.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783486054.60460.0018Request time: 0.1876
1783486054.60460Process time: 0.1874
1783486054.60460Memory: 1.6221