Gliding Flight: Speed and Acceleration of Ideal Falcons During Diving and Pull Out
Abstract
Some falcons, such as peregrines (Falco peregrinus), attack their prey in the air at the end of high-speed dives and are thought to be the fastest of animals. Estimates of their top speed in a dive range up to 157 m s−1, although speeds this high have never been accurately measured. This study investigates the aerodynamic and gravitational forces on ‘ideal falcons’ and uses a mathematical model to calculate speed and acceleration during diving. Ideal falcons have body masses of 0.5–2.0 kg and morphological and aerodynamic properties based on those measured for real falcons. The top speeds reached during a dive depend on the mass of the bird and the angle and duration of the dive. Given enough time, ideal falcons can reach top speeds of 89–112 m s−1 in a vertical dive, the higher speed for the heaviest bird, when the parasite drag coefficient has a value of 0.18. This value was measured for low-speed flight, and it could plausibly decline to 0.07 at high speeds. Top speeds then would be 138–174 m s−1. An ideal falcon diving at angles between 15 and 90 ° with a mass of 1 kg reaches 95 % of top speed after travelling approximately 1200 m. The time and altitude loss to reach 95 % of top speed range from 38 s and 322 m at 15 ° to 16 s and 1140 m at 90 °, respectively. During pull out at top speed from a vertical dive, the 1 kg ideal falcon can generate a lift force 18 times its own weight by reducing its wing span, compared with a lift force of 1.7 times its weight at full wing span. The falcon loses 60 m of altitude while pulling out of the dive, and lift and loss of altitude both decrease as the angle of the dive decreases. The 1 kg falcon can slow down in a dive by increasing its parasite drag and the angle of attack of its wings. Both lift and drag increase with angle of attack, but the falcon can cancel the increased lift by holding its wings in a cupped position so that part of the lift is directed laterally. The increased drag of wings producing maximum lift is great enough to decelerate the falcon at −1.5 times the acceleration of gravity at a dive angle of 45 ° and a speed of 41 m s−1 (0.5 times top speed). Real falcons can control their speeds in a dive by changing their drag and by choosing the length of the dive. They would encounter both advantages and disadvantages by diving at the top speeds of ideal falcons, and whether they achieve those speeds remains to be investigated.
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The female has a greater wing span and area, giving the flight musculature a larger attachment area and increasing the maximum aerodynamic torque she can hold.
“However, she also has a greater wing span and area, such that the flight musculature has a larger attachment area on the wings, thereby increasing the maximum aerodynamic torque that she can hold (Tucker 1998, Shyy et al. 2013).”
From Sexual size dimorphism, prey morphology and catch success in relation to flight mechanics in the peregrine falcon: a simulation study (2019) · cites this paper as Tucker 1998
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Phan, H. V., & Floreano, D. (2023) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2023.12.29.573672 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Many large birds engaged in agile manoeuvres, such as perching 40 and recovery from high-speed dive 41,42 , decelerate by executing a rapid pitch-up manoeuvre to transfer kinetic energy to potential energy.”
BackgroundFunctional Designs of the Gas Exchangers
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Large dynamic pitching for lift enhancement during the pull-out manoeuvre of raptors
Gowree, E. R., Tome, J. D., Escamilla, A. D., et al. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-97990-5 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Analysis of Winglets Designed from PSU Airfoils
Murali, K., Arul, S. A., & Deva Vibin, M. (2014) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Lessons from Animals in Extreme Environments
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Behavioral Ecology of Forest Birds
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Wild Birds and Zoonotic Pathogens
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Locomotor biomechanics and behaviour in the ocellate river stingray
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FLOCK STASIS DRIVES FLYING SPEED IN PIGEONS, WHILE ARTIFICIAL MASS ADDITIONS DO NOTPreprint
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Halcón peregrino – Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771
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Compound Humerus Fracture and Angled Retrograde Pin Treatment in a Barbary Falcon (Falco Peregrinus)
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“Doğanlar avlanırken saatte 320 km’ye ulaşabildikleri üstün hızlarıyla tanınırlar (Tucker 1998).”
Application of Morphometric and Stereological Techniques on Analysis and Modelling of the Avian Lung
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“For example, a diving peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, can attain a speed of 403 kph (112 m s (1)) [22]; the Arctic tern, Sterna paradisea, flies from pole to pole, a return distance of 35,000 km [23, 24]; the American golden plover, Pluvialis dominica, flies 3300 km non-stop from the Aleutian Islands to the Hawaii…”
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Predators hide against similarly coloured species to camouflage on the move
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“It is among the world’s fastest flying animals, capable of achieving speeds over 320 km/h during its hunting stoop (Tucker 1998).”
- Authors
- Tucker, V. A.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Tucker, Vance A.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Biology
- Publisher
- The Company of Biologists
- Published
- 1998-02-01
- Volume
- 201
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 403-414
- ISSN
- 0022-0949 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-9145
- OpenAlex
- W2135347777
- Semantic Scholar
- 53aedcaba6a420ca0854a3128b3494230c1b3be7
- Cited by
- 95
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 16.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Aerospace and Aviation Technology
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Fluid dynamics and aerodynamics studies
- Keywords
- falcons, Falco peregrinus, gliding flight, aerodynamic forces, parasite drag, lift force, angle of attack, wing span, deceleration, prey capture, bird flight mechanics
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