From the field: Capturing the peregrine stoop on film
In a follow up to our recent post on Joe Kittinger, the brave man who jumped from a balloon 20 miles in the air, we are excited to bring your attention to a similar - but perhaps more majestic maneuver - the peregrine’s stoop.
To avoid detection by it’s prey, a peregrine falcon - one of the fastest animals on the planet - will ascend hundreds of feet and once it has locked onto its target will then tuck it’s body and deploy into the stoop formation - the most elegant of animal contortions - and nose dive like a rocket at upwards of 240 mph. Even at these blinding speeds the peregrine has enough control over its trajectory that it can actually target the wing of its prey, sending it tumbling to the ground, and avoiding injury in a high speed, full-body collision!
So sit back and enjoy this clip from the PBS Nature series and watch as falconer and engineer Rob MacIntyre devises a clever mini-falcon cam that is strapped onto the back of his peregrine so we can watch the stoop, and the kill first hand.
