The fastest animal in the world exceeds 300 km/h. The secret is in his body
A peregrine falcon exceeds 300 km/h when diving. He owes his record speed to his body structure and precise flight control.
No other animal reaches such speeds in the air as the peregrine falcon. However, the record is only held during a diving flight, called a stoop. In horizontal flight it moves much slower.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports that the falcon can accelerate to about 320 km/h during an attack. The Guinness Book of Records describes the experimental flight of a female named Frightful, whose speed in 1999 was measured at 389.46 km/h. The bird began diving after being released from the plane at an altitude of over 5 km.
How does a falcon achieve such speed?
The hunt begins with gaining the advantage of height. After spotting prey, the falcon folds its wings and positions its body in a way that reduces air resistance. Gravity accelerates its flight, but the bird does not fall limply.
Aerodynamic studies published in “PLOS ONE” showed that as the speed increases, the falcon changes the position of its wings. Initially, they form a characteristic diamond shape, then they become more strongly attracted to the body, and at the highest speed they almost completely adhere to it. This allows you to limit turbulence and at the same time maintain controllability.
During the attack, the bird makes small adjustments with its wings and tail. In this way, it can adapt its flight path to the maneuvers performed by the escaping prey.
The falcon steers like a missile
Researchers from the University of Oxford analyzed falcon flights using GPS devices and cameras. They determined that their attack trajectories could be described using the proportional navigation rule, also used in missile guidance systems.
This does not mean that the bird performs mathematical calculations. It reacts to the change in the position of the victim in its field of vision and corrects its direction to cross its expected path. Simulations published in PLOS Computational Biology showed that high speed can increase the effectiveness of hunting for agile prey.
The eyes are protected during diving by a transparent shutter membrane called the third eyelid. However, falcons have small bumps in their nostrils. It is believed that they help regulate air flow, but their exact function has not been clearly confirmed. Nor are they a recent discovery or a feature unique to the peregrine falcon.
