Peregrines

[David Stowe <>]

Couldn't agree more Evan!
Maybe they should train a Leopard to sky dive so that it can be the  
fastest 4 legged animal and beat the Cheetah!
To hell with the training actually; may as well just throw it out of  
a 747 and break the record good and proper! ;-)
I can understand why Stephen Debus must be frustrated trying to  
illustrate the facts to people.
I have driven alongside a Peregrine at eye level as it came in on an  
attack run at a group of stationary Galahs. I was doing 80km/h and as  
it got close it accelerated faster than that and took a Galah on the  
wing right in front of me.
I reckon even 80+km/h flying level (not diving) is pretty awesome!

David Stowe



On 18/06/2008, at 2:30 PM, Evan Beaver wrote:

> I am being slightly facetious, but it's with good reason to  
> illustrate a point.
> Did the falcon fly under it's own power to 10,000 feet? If not, I
> suggest that a Yellowfin tuna, or something similarly dense and
> aerodynamic would flog the record. My point being that if you
> manufacture some bizarre situation, yes they are the fastest animal on
> earth, and they might still be with the 'lower' (still outrageously
> fast) speed of about 200, but human involvement in the test merely
> adds a curiosity, not a fact.
>
> EB
>
> On 6/18/08, Andrew Taylor <> wrote:
> > On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 10:34:10AM +1000, Kurtis Lindsay wrote:
> > > But at speeds of up to 390 km/h, clearly the Peregrine Falcon  
> > > reamins
> > > the fastest animal and perhaps fastest organism on  earth.
> > I wouldn't count on this because the basic physics suggest  
> > Gyrfalcons have
> > a higher maximum diving speed, essentially because they are heavier.
> > When someone trains a big female Gyrfalcon to chase a lure tossed  
> > out of
> > an aeroplane it may dive faster.
> >
> > Andrew
> > ===============================
> > www.birding-aus.org
> > birding-aus.blogspot.com
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> > send the message:
> > unsubscribe
> > (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> > to: 
> > ===============================
>
> --
> Evan Beaver
> Lapstone, Blue Mountains, NSW
> lat=-33.77, lon=150.64
> ===============================
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to: 
> ===============================