Who’s Faster In Level Flight?

Peregrine falcon “Buckeye” (Chad+Chris Saladin) and Red-breasted merganser (Steve Gosser)

Peregrine falcons are nicknamed “duck hawks” because ducks are one of their favorite foods.  For comparison, here’s a peregrine falcon and a red-breasted merganser.  Obviously the peregrine is more powerful.

Now imagine the peregrine is chasing the red-breasted merganser over Lake Erie.  If these two birds are traveling as fast as they can go in level flight, who would win?

In level flight (not in a dive) the red-breasted merganser is faster! 

Learn how fast these birds can go in this vintage blog post: Talk About Speed

(photo credits: peregrine falcon by Chad+Chris Saladin, red-breasted merganser by Steve Gosser)

2 thoughts on “Who’s Faster In Level Flight?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *