If that I koude a faucon wel discryve,
That herde of swich another of fairnesse,
As wel of plumage as of gentillesse
Of shap, of al that myghte yrekened be.
A faucon peregryn thanne semed she
Of fremde land; and everemoore, as she stood…
The TL;DR translation of this might be: “OMG look at this incredible falcon, she is amazing: her feathering, her shape, her nobility; it is a peregrine, here from a foreign land.” The quote is from “The Squire’s Tale”, one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and though this is a lesser-known tale, and is in fact unfinished (perhaps intentionally, perhaps not), it is notable as the first recorded usage of the word “peregrine”, here as “peregryn”, in English.
The scientific name for Peregrine Falcon is Falco peregrinus. What I like about the Latin peregrinus is that in addition to meaning “wanderer”, it also means “foreigner” or “pilgrim”. Peregrinus amalgamates “per” for “through, or “away” with “agri” for “field, territory, land” into “peregre” to mean “abroad”. It is a lovely term, especially resonant for someone who travels incessantly.
The word falcon used to refer to just the females, btw, while tercel, or tiercel, was used for males. Falcons are strikingly dimorphic in size, and if I let my thoughts wander during the countless hours I spend drawing them, I think perhaps that is why the different sexes have different names. I know falconers that refer to them this way, to this day.
Falcons are indisputably impressive creatures, Peregrine Falcons especially so. As I read through the nicely-written Birds of Prey by Dunne and Karlson, I found a great quote by Alexander Wilson about the species, formerly known as Duck Hawk: “If we were to repeat all of the anecdotes which have been related to us of the achievements of the Duck Hawk, they would swell our pages at the expense, probably, of our reputation.”
Ornithologists and hyperbole are an uncomfortable mix, but it is hard with Peregrines to not go there. Insane hunting prowess, including stooping at speeds greater than 200 mph (322 km/hr)! One of widest distributions on the planet, nesting on every continent but Antarctica! Incredible migrations, including overnight legs entirely out at sea! One of North America’s most astounding conservation comebacks (post the banning of DDT)!
There are so many stories to expand upon, but alas, not for here. I would like to focus on one aspect of these wondrous creatures that I only discovered recently. I like to use close observation of birds as a vehicle for continuous learning and for making mind-blowing discoveries, and my latest wormhole has led me to realize that Peregrine Falcons have enormous feet. Very large, very powerful, outsized feet. I had never noticed this before drawing them in detail, since almost all of my observations in the field have been of hunting and migrating birds, moving quickly. It makes sense, given their hunting tactics, but even so… they are really big. And now, I cannot unsee it. It is the entire reason I just delved into reading more about Peregrines and for writing on this.
Digging further, I found that Peregrines were also formerly called “Great-footed Hawk”. Fair enough, if a bit less romantic! Also from further reading and birder lore, Pete Dunne anecdotally pointed out to Roger Tory Peterson that the great RTP had painted his Peregrine feet too small. Roger replied, “Yes, but if you draw them to their proper size, people don’t like it.” Touché, sir, touché.
For more info/citations:
Harvard University’s Geoffrey Chaucer Website: https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/
squires-introduction-and-tale
Dunne, Pete, and Karlson, Kevin T. Birds of Prey. New York, NY, USA, Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, 2016
Sibley, David. The Birds of Cape May. Cape May.NJ, USA, New Journey Audubon’s
CMBO, 1997.
Etymonline website: https://www.etymonline.com/word/peregrine
White, C. M., N. J. Clum, T. J. Cade, and W. G. Hunt (2020). Peregrine Falcon (Falco
peregrinus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.perfal.01
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