Sharp-Shinned Hawk

Peregrine Falcon

• In early falconry, a man no longer young enough to fly his own bird wound up toting the wooden frame on which live hawks were carried. It was called a “cadge," pronounced “codge." That's where we got “old codger."
• The eyesight of a hawk is 8 times as powerful as a human's.
• A hawk's talons are its main weapons.
• 85–90% of the Red-tailed Hawk's diet is composed of small rodents.
• The American Kestrel is the smallest North American hawk and feeds mainly on mice and insects.
• Many birds call out warning alarms. Of two kinds... One sound signals danger in the air, such as a hawk. Another, danger on the ground, such as a fox.
• The only bird of prey that sings is the South African Chanting Goshawk. None other even hums.
• In the language of the falconers, any "falcon" is female. The male is a "tiercel," a word that relates to three. The bird is said by some to have been so called because it was one-third smaller than the female, by others, because a third egg in a nest was believed to be smaller and to produce a male.
• A falcon sees less with both eyes focused together than with either eye focused alone.
• The first animal to be listed as an endangered species was the peregrine falcon. Still on the list, might mention.