Q 01/05

The peregrine falcon is famous above all for what?

A) Its song

B) Its size

C) Its colours

D) Its speed

Answer · why

D) Its speed

A crow-sized bird with a blue-grey back and black head, it hunts almost nothing but other birds.

Q 02/05

Which sex of peregrine falcon is larger?

A) The male

B) Neither; they match

C) It varies by region

D) The female

Answer · why

D) The female

That is typical of bird-eating raptors; a female weighing half as much again as her mate is not unusual.

Q 03/05

What is the peregrine's historical North American nickname?

A) Pigeon hawk

B) Sparrow hawk

C) Chicken hawk

D) Duck hawk

Answer · why

D) Duck hawk

In Australia it was the 'black-cheeked falcon'; the American subspecies name anatum literally means 'duck peregrine'.

Q 04/05

The peregrine is entirely absent from which major ice-free landmass?

A) Great Britain

B) New Zealand

C) Madagascar

D) Sri Lanka

Answer · why

B) New Zealand

Everywhere else bar the poles, the highest mountains and most rainforests has them, making it the world's most widespread raptor.

Q 05/05

Both the English and scientific names of the peregrine mean what?

A) Swift falcon

B) Wandering falcon

C) Royal falcon

D) Cliff falcon

Answer · why

B) Wandering falcon

Peregrinus is Latin for 'one from abroad', probably because young birds were caught while travelling rather than taken from hard-to-reach nests.