Peregrines at Table Top Mountain

The Peregrine falcon, several of which nest on Table Top Mountain, is a species that has been used in falconry for more than 3000 years, beginning with the nomads of Central Asia and still practiced today.

Falco peregrinus is the world's fastest aerial predator reaching speeds of up to 300km/hr in a dive. It is a species that has adapted to living on every continent except Antarctica. They can live for up to 20 years and mate for life.

Recorded as supreme beings in Norse and Ancient Egyptian mythology. The Egyptain god Horus, the earliest royal god, was drawn as a falcon-headed man wearing a double crown. His right eye was the sun and his left the moon.

Both the English name, peregrine falcon and the Latin, falco peregrinus literally mean 'pilgrim falcon'. The name comes from the middle ages when the young birds were caught on the passage or pilgrimage from their breeding place.

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