Is a falcon faster than a cheetah?

Cheetahs are famous for their speed, but they don’t even come close to the world’s faster animal, a falcon that swoops on its unsuspecting prey at speeds of over 300 km per hour.

The peregrine falcon is one of the most efficient predators on Earth, and it owes much of that efficiency to its unrivaled speed. During its characteristic dive, this majestic creature reaches an average speed of 320 km/h, but the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is actually 389 km/h (242 mph), which makes it faster than the vast majority of commercially available cars. And it’s obviously much faster than the cheetah’s 64 mph record.

Photo: Hari K Patibanda/Flickr

Even when flying in a straight line, peregrine falcons are impressively fast, clocking speeds of 40 to 55 km per hour (25-34 mph) in travel flight, and reaching 112 km/h (69 mph) when in direct pursuit of prey. But it’s when diving that they show their true power, swooping down at breakneck speeds that would actually cause harm to any other creature.

Peregrine falcons are truly built for speed. Not only do they have a lightweight frame and an aerodynamic diving form that allows them to achieve incredible speeds, but they also have special features that allow them to withstand such velocity. For example, diving at over 300 km per hour would cause damage to any other bird’s lungs, but the falcon has tiny tubercles that direct pressurized air away from its nostrils, allowing it to breathe easily. Nictating membranes also protect the bird’s eyes during its dive.

Another essential feature is the peregrine falcon’s visual processing speed. At 129 hertz, it’s the highest of any other known animal, allowing it to register 129 frames per second. For comparison, we humans have a maximum visual processing speed of 60 hertz.

The peregrine falcon’s unmatched diving speed allows it to attack prey anywhere from a few hundred meters to a few kilometers in just a few seconds, often using the speed to deliver a serious blow to its prey. But diving at full speed would kill them as well as their targets, so the bird will forcefully flap its wings to increase drag and slow down to manageable speeds.

It’s sad to think that only a few decades ago, this majestic creature was almost extinct, and all because of us. The pesticide DDT poisoned adult birds and made their eggshells considerably thinner, preventing the embryos from developing. This caused severe damage to peregrine falcons and many other bird species. It was only after DDT was banned in 1972, that the bird populations started to recover. By 1999, peregrine falcons were taken off of the endangered species list and their numbers have been stable ever since.

For the longest distance flight record, look no further than the tiny bar-tailed godwit, a migratory bird that recently flew a whopping 13,560 km (8,245 miles) non-stop, over 11 days.

Today, I’m excited to start what I hope will be a new series of periodic posts with my oldest son, Kyle Watson. Kyle is 9 years old and very interested in animals. He reads about them daily and regularly asks to look online for more information about animals. We thought maybe there are other children asking the same questions as him, but not finding all the answers they need. Kyle is going to attempt to assimilate the information he finds into posts answering the questions that he’s asking and maybe your child is asking too. We hope you’ll follow along! Have a question you’d like Kyle to answer? Please post it in the comments below!

Today I’m asking, “If a peregrine falcon and a cheetah had a 430 yard race who would win?” First you should know the peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world. The cheetah is the fastest land animal. Second, the peregrine falcon flies between 40-55 miles per hour straight ahead, but can dive at an even higher speed of 242 miles per hour.While the peregrine falcon’s top speed is higher, the cheetah accelerates or reaches its top speed faster. The cheetah can run 75 miles per hour for a distance of 1300 feet at a time. It reaches 45 miles per hour in two seconds.

So, if the cheetah runs straight ahead, but the peregrine falcon flies high so he can reach his maximum speed while diving, the cheetah will have a shorter distance to cover. The peregrine falcon has to fly up to at least 430 feet above the ground before beginning its dive. My guess before completing the math is that the peregrine falcon will win, because his max speed is higher. Plus he’s way cooler. What’s your guess?

Okay, time for the math.

We want to measure their speed for a distance of 430 yards, which is 1290 feet (3 feet per yard; 3 x 430 = 1290). We know the animals’ speeds based on miles per hour, so now we need to convert that to how many feet they can travel in an hour. A cheetah can travel 237, 600 feet per hour for the first 2 seconds and 396,00 feet per hour for the time remaining, up to a distance of 1300 feet.

So for the first 2 seconds, a cheetah can travel 66 feet per second totaling 132 feet, which leaves 1,158 feet remaining in our race. Since his speed increases to 396,000 feet per hour (or 75 mph) once he’s accelerated to his top speed, it will take him an additional 10.5 seconds to travel the remaining distance. We figured that out by dividing 396,000 by 60 feet equaling 6,600 feet per minute. Then 1,158 divided by 6,600 equaling .175, which means 17.5 % of an hour. If we multiply 60 (seconds) by .175, we learn that it would take the cheetah 10.5 seconds to travel the remaining 1158 feet. So, it would take the cheetah a total of 12.5 seconds to travel 1290 feet or 430 yards.

If the peregrine falcon traveled directly upward at a speed of 55 miles per hour or 290,400 feet per hour first (essentially traveling no distance forward), it would take him 5.328 seconds to reach a height of 430 feet. From that height, he can begin diving at his top speed of 242 miles per hour or 1,277,760 feet per hour. It would take the peregrine falcon 3.6 seconds to travel the remaining distance totaling 8.928 seconds to travel 1290 feet or 430 yards. PEREGRINE FALCON WINS! (Keep in mind we didn’t account for acceleration rates by height for the peregrine falcon, because we didn’t have enough information to do that.)

However, if the peregrine falcon traveled directly ahead instead of up, it would take him 15.99 seconds to travel 430 yards therefore causing him to lose. CHEETAH WINS!

Who is faster a cheetah or a falcon?

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Which bird is faster than a cheetah?