Peregrine Falcon

36-47 cm; span to 95 cm. Female larger. Famous falcon: crown and cheeks black; upperparts slate-blue; underparts white or buff; breast and underwings finely barred black, leaving prominent white or buff 'bib'. Cere, eye-ring and legs yellow. Juvenile: browner; feather margins buff; buff below, streaked blackish brown; cere, eye-ring and legs yellowish. Singles, pairs, family parties: perches high, on dead limbs, cliffs, broadcasting pylons. Soars high, wings flat and elliptically tapered; tail fanned; 'bib' prominent; looks wide-hipped, tail broad and ample. Wingbeats quick and shallow, broken by glides; 'stoops' spectacularly on birds such as pigeons, galahs, or teals, streaking across sky on nearly closed wings. Chases with hard, lashing strokes of backswept wings.