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Peregrine falcon

The ranked speed is the 39 m/s maximum of Alerstam's 10-second radar intervals during stoops. The 389 km/h experimental dive is a claim and is not the rank.

Also known as Falco peregrinus
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Top speed

Published as 39 m/sPublished as 39 m/sPublished as 39 m/s

Maximum of 10-second radar intervals during stoops. Alerstam 1987. Average stoop in the same paper was about 25 m/s.

VerifiedIbis (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 3.7× Usain Bolt's 100 m world-record paceSourced · Usain Bolt, 100 m in 9.58 s. World Athletics, Berlin 2009. Averaged over the race
  • 1.3× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 2.3 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 140km/h87.2mph39m/s75.8knRanked figure

    Maximum of 10-second radar intervals during stoops. Alerstam 1987. Average stoop in the same paper was about 25 m/s.

    Verified
    Ibis (opens source in a new tab)Accessed
  2. 43.6km/h27.1mph12.1m/s23.5kn

    Mean equivalent airspeed Ue, continuous flapping flight, Bruderer and Boldt subset, n=13. Protocol S1, 2007.

    Verified
    PLOS Biology (opens source in a new tab)Accessed
  3. 389km/h242mph108m/s210kn

    Experimental dive reported at perhaps up to 389 km/h (242 mph), falcon Frightful, Ken Franklin, 1999, from about 17,000 ft. Guinness also states an estimated terminal velocity near 320 km/h. Not the ranked figure. · Frightful

    Claimed
    Guinness World Records (opens source in a new tab)Accessed

Reference

Specs

Species
Falco peregrinus
Ranked figure
39 m/s, 10-second radar interval, stoop
Level-flight mean
12.1 m/s Ue, Bruderer subset, n=13

Context

Background

Alerstam's 1987 radar study in Ibis reported average stoop speed around 25 m/s and a maximum, over 10-second intervals, of 31 to 39 m/s. This list ranks 39 m/s and says in the conditions that it is a 10-second interval maximum, not an instantaneous peak.

The same research group's 2007 supplement lists Falco peregrinus at a mean equivalent airspeed of 12.1 m/s in continuous flapping flight (Bruderer subset, n=13). Guinness records an estimated terminal velocity near 320 km/h and experimental dives, including Frightful with Ken Franklin in 1999, reported at perhaps up to 389 km/h. That 389 km/h figure is labeled claimed and is not used for the rank or for comparisons.

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