Peregrine Falcon

A juvenile male Peregrine Falcon which we named ‘Clarkie’ was delivered to Taronga’s Wildlife Hospial with a badly broken right wing. This extraordinary powerful and beautiful bird was treated by one of our veterinarians using an innovative technique to aid a speedy recovery with the aim to rehabilitate and release the bird as soon as possible. 

‘Clarkie’ was a model patient, and although the splint technique worked extraordinarily well, the injured wing seemed to be slightly drooped after treatment was finalised. Peregrines are specialist hunters and being compromised in flight would deem the bird unsuitable for release. 

The best way to assess its flight capabilities is to observe the bird in free flight. The falcon was sent down to Taronga’s Bird Show for flight training. Free flight training would also help build up muscle which increases the chance of survival once released. 

After a month of free flight training, ‘Clarkie’ was well enough to go and, was released at a nice bushy location. It was perfect flying condition for him, heading out towards Western Sydney. Keepers were pleased in the way he was flying and knew he would be ok. Clarkie will now be finding himself his own territory and also a girl to share it with.

Peregrine Falcons are the fastest animal in the world, topping speeds up to 380km an hour, because of this they are designed to withstand great pressures. Stiff feathers so they don’t buckle under stress, dark eyes that act like sunglasses to protect their eyes when using the sun as camouflage, to sneak up on their prey, specially designed nostrils that have nodules in them to break the air up so he can breathe when travelling at high speeds, which jet engines were designed from.

Peregrines Falcons have adapted well with human presents, nestings in high-rise buildings within city’s, which resemble cliff faces. The abundance of feral pigeons also make an all you can eat buffet for these specialised hunters.