How Fast Is A Gyrfalcon? | Earth Unplugged

First we raced a Peregrine falcon against a Red Bull downhill mountain bike champion! Now it's the turn of Lloyd's Gryfalcon, how fast can this magnificent bird of prey chase the Bentley along the airstrip?! Subscribe: bit.ly/SubscribeToEarthUnplugged
Maddie catches up with bird handling legend Lloyd Buck who explains the gyrfalcon's evolutionary adaptations.
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[@kb.9211]

This was amazing to watch. I feel so lucky to have a gyrfalcon living in my backyard this year. I just found out today she had a baby as well.

[@khaalidali5891]

Very lucky

[@kb.9211]

@@khaalidali5891 Thank you. The mom and her little one still live in the trees in my backyard. We have some redwoods they love. I just saw one swoop down and get a mouse or something while I was doing the dishes the other day. The wing span is amazing. I really have enjoyed sharing our space together these last few yrs.

[@khaalidali5891]

@@kb.9211 cool the most i see is a sparrowhawk in a blue moon

[@peregrinesmith1117]

Do you live in the arctic, that where gyrfalcons nest.

[@clintchisler6835]

Pretty sure that not a Gyr in your backyard

[@jaimeivantamayo]

This is the best car commercial I have ever seen!

[@alvaroacwellan9051]

What a beautiful, magnificent bird! I don't care about the car :D

[@matsfreedom]

Birds of prey fly at speeds that suit their needs at the moment. Chasing a lure is a fun game, but nothing like chasing wild game. A hungry gyrfalcon chasing, say, a wild Pintail duck, will chase at top speed, which is much faster than what we see in this video. It's life and death, survival of fittest, eat or die, that produces their real speed. Gyrfalcons are definitely the fastest of the falcons. I believe the Saudi falconers have clocked them at 90 mph, straight and level.

[@Ethan-uo4fr]

No kidding. Bird hunters in the Middle East and Northern Africa are what's causing many of the European songbird and raptor populations to decline.

[@brendanmorin9935]

I’m pretty sure the fastest falcon (I think it’s a falcon lol) is the Eurasian Hobby!! :D

[@caiodosanjos157]

Peregrine Falcon is the fastest

[@hunterclarkson4403]

@@caiodosanjos157 only while diving, in terms of level flying the gyr is faster at 90mph compared to the peregrines 65mph. Afterall the gyr does prey on peregrines

[@bruhsselsprouts3986]

Hunter Clarkson but if you look at the original comment, he just said fastest, not fastest flyer. The fastest falcon is still a peregrine. The fastest flyer of the falcons is the gyr, all about the phrasing

[@styleyK]

50mph into a headwind, brilliant. Love nature 😊

[@Toxiicblink]

For everyone wondering, the epic chicken reaches 80 km/h

[@Buttikoferiii]

Steve R yet gyrfalcons prey on peregrines

[@troublingleaf]

My chickens have been known do times of less than 1.5 hours in conditions up to 200°

[@clockworkolive8533]

nope, it reaches 93 km/h (54mph) anyway the sprint is not impresive for a gyrfalcon , the top speed of this birds at level flight is 145 km/h (90 mph)

[@elplain]

Thank you very much!!!!

[@clockworkolive8533]

@ on dive bombing peregrine wins, on level flight gyrfalcon is crearly faster, however this particular falcon is not giving everything, just playing around, gyrfalcon doubles the size of a peregrine

[@X4R2]

5:17 - Gyrfalcon immediately demonstrates its flapping prowess

[@icook74]

All very beautiful and majestic, but if you want all out speed and endurance, you need look no further than the humble pigeon.

[@thenman23]

Ian Cook not everything is about pigeons

[@icook74]

Hmm...? Didn't say it was.

[@lori5455]

gyrfalcon vs pigeon could only have one outcome. Falcons only kill other birds and while pigeons are very aerobatic they are not a match for a predator with the speed, eyesight (over 1 mile), and talons of these assassins. Peregrines actually prefer pigeons over any other bird....

[@luketw2818]

Lori he’s saying that a pigeon has a higher speed and endurance. This is true. If a falcon raced a pigeon it would more than likely lose every time. Pigeons have much faster acceleration and top speed with a higher endurance. They can maintain higher speeds for longer amounts of time. The advantage of the falcon is to have the high ground and start a stoop to gain maximum speed by the time the pigeon see them it’s usually too late. Cheers 🍻

[@thegreatseprano9918]

@@luketw2818 A little google research will show you that gyrfalcons and pigeons have around the same horizontal top speed (with the falcon a bit faster) and with the far superior dive speed the falcon is definitely faster, however there is no doubt that pigeons have superior endurance. The only area where pigeons can match falcons in horizontal flight speed is when bred and trained as racing pigeons, this not comparable though because there aren't really any purpose bred acing falcons.

[@djdedan]

hmm looks like 5 peregrine falcons thumbed down this video...

[@micahmidstar2577]

DjDedan and pigeons

[@gammabursta6915]

Nahh

[@Flinn8]

That’s a beautiful bird.. And that falcon looks pretty awesome too! 😗

[@jordanjayd]

They get their maximum​ speed from bomb diving, in flat pursuits pigeons can actually get away.

[@djdedan]

dive bombing... and i think that's peregrines, not sure if gyrs hunt the same way, they seem to use be more of an endurance hunter... but i'm not 100% sure...

[@albertdittel8898]

@strawberry Kiys: it's true that pigeons and ducks can fly away when people use falcons to hunt them, but that is not an accurate comparison - it is just one type of situation and there might be many reasons for that outcome. When I and my father tried to measure the speed of falcons and their prey (pigeons, ducks, crows and others) in level flight, it appeared to us that both falcons (saker, peregrine, gyrfalcons), pigeons and ducks could pretty certainly do 100km/h, maybe even more. And it appeared to us that the max speed of all these birds wasn't too different (I admit our estimates were not precise by any means). Apart from that my father once trained a sacer falcon, which was able to hunt down wild pigeons at pretty much every second attempt in a level endurance flight, sometimes even when starting from a lower point than the pigeons. It was the only such specimen out of many many dozens of falcons my father has trained in his life (he used to train falcons for Arabs). We don't know what this one falcon's secret was, but I think that it was rather a psychological thing: this one falcon was actually the only one to perform such deeds, but it was also the only one that actually really TRIED to do that. All the other falcons usually discernably didn't really try, after a weak try they were like "level endurance hunt? no, thank you". So my theory is that the big falcons actually can fly as good as pigeons and ducks in a level flight, but also hardly much better, and they just don't do that, because it is probably a very inefficient way to hunt. A level endurance chase means that the falcon will totally exhaust himself and then the pigeon is maybe quite maneuvrable and the duck - well the falcon would have to fight the duck being completely exhausted, because it will not be able to strike the duck as falcons love to do, if the duck goes 100km/h and the falcon goes 110km/h. So I think it's just that the ratio between exhaustion and the chance to get something to eat is just too bad and so that's just not the way falcons hunt. By the way, where did you get that stuff with smaller breast muscles from? Is it something reliable or is it just your own thoughts? (I don't know either btw.)

[@Semendrija123]

@@albertdittel8898I think that your elaboration is spot on, I will only add some additional info. I'm training immature peregrine female with the car lure and after couple of good chases she was able to go little over 100 km/h according to GPS telemetry, so your estimates are right. My guess is that in her second season and with good training she will be able to go close to 120 km/h in still air. And your theory about energy management, how I like to call it, is absolutely right and that is exactly the reason why immature falcons in their first year have so high mortality rate. Young birds tend to tail chase and for a good reason. The first one is the fitness, they need to bulk up their muscles and they need to get endurance. They have greater wing surface and longer tails compared to adult birds to help them save more energy, because the less wing loading bird has, the less energy she needs to stay airborne and the bird is more maneuverable. This allows them to spend some time in gaining the experience and muscle mass and to develop hunting tactics, other than tail chase, for better energy management.The down side of that is higher drag, especially at higher speeds and that means that adult birds with their low drag aerodynamics and higher muscle mass are faster both in level flight and in the stoop, and they can exploit that by using approach that requires less energy. Young birds that are not successful in developing the right hunting tactics and lose to much energy in chasing very maneuverable prey are doomed and more than often die from hunger. That is exactly the reason why we rarely see an adult wild peregrines taking long tail chases after pigeons when they miss in the first attempt. They have the speed to overtake the pigeon, but the pigeon can outmaneuver the falcon and the energy cost of such chase is much higher compared to another high altitude ambush attack on unsuspecting victim.

[@sushh1]

1:54 wow Maddie should do a segments about cars. i would watch shit outta that.

[@spindalis79]

A buddy of mine actually just banded a female hatch-year Gyrfalcon in Iowa. This bird was very large and actually exceeded the measurements for an average Gyr. Huge girl.

[@steveyj75]

Amazing video, BEAUTIFUL falcon. Thank you!!

[@rei_cirith]

Just brilliant how you can see her trying to find that sweet spot behind the car where she can get faster. So beautiful.

[@Mr.Chris.P.Bacon1]

3:25 *That hawk was SO BEAUTIFUL it was BREATHTAKING.*

[@djsourcream2668]

Mr Logical It is a falcon. And yes, it is gorgeous.

[@user-so8lg5fr5r]

Makes humans look ugly

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

dj sourcream Falcons are hawk relatives I thought? 🤔

[@tizzanash]

Not really. They are both raptors tho.

[@djsourcream2668]

ғɪʟʟ 1ɴ ᴛ҉ ʜ3 ʙʟᴀɴᴋs falcons are hawk relatives. I'm just saying that it is a falcon instead of a hawk.

[@salmonfish1145]

What an epic chicken.

[@izanagi21ify]

What an epic dinosaur.

[@DrXIII]

What an epic RAPTOR!

[@nestlemilk9032]

Salmon Fish 69th like

[@Maurice_Moss]

yelistener what epic spelling

[@twangbarfly]

LOL!

[@TheConnor12500]

Gorgeous bird

[@sufyanparkar9790]

that driver winking 😂

[@maggielandrey411]

I think this became my new favorite youtube video..... :O

[@eevee2joltyon]

This was surprisingly beautiful and.. even suspenseful! These falcons are absolutely beautiful as they fly and you can see the focus in their eyes. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@tims4966]

God I love these videos! Thank you!

[@x2x3456]

Really good production quality!

[@shinigami1357]

Amazing, simply amazing

[@VeryHighCholesterol]

the slowmo cam on the bird was amazing

[@High_101]

This is beautiful

[@warnpassion]

Cinematography levels, Beginner Rookie Advanced Professional Expert God BBC.

[@huyked]

Gyrfalcon: _Silly human. Tricks are for kids._

[@RasikaMahabal]

wow! beautiful shots!

[@bumblebee7922]

GORGEOUS!!! My favorite bird...

[@LateNightHacks]

much better cut on this one, thumbs up!

[@rooktopwn]

I want to know what the background music is but I can't seem to find it. Anybody know or is it special to the channel?

[@sheikhsameer3917]

Very beautiful bird. I love falcon family

[@janrenee80]

soooo exciting!

[@Pantheragatos]

What a gorgeous bird ;-)

[@mr.gabrielsnowball169]

Beautiful!

[@roberthiorns7584]

Beautiful. My favourite Raptor .

[@jackwilliamtaylor5656]

Finally!! I've only ever seen gyrfalcon written down and never knew how to pronounce it

[@willieboy8798]

the distance ... is the difference.....and then the articulation of limbs at that speed to get the prey ....what a performance! look at that four inches off the ground at 50 mph magnificient bird

[@Taiiveon]

I guess she Winged it

[@BooBaddyBig]

Should put the lure on a stick, like a broom handle or something, because it would keep it out of the vehicle's wake. Also, a pitot airspeed measurement judiciously placed on the car would have been a REALLY good idea.

[@viktorbihar629]

I would rate this a 2 out of 5 stars video, poor test. For best results, the falcon should have performed a stoop, a dive and don't tell me that's cheating, because the falcon can maintaine the same speed performed by the stoop even at a horizontal distance.

[@rochelletalania3364]

Such a beauty

[@beetrootcouncil810]

I'm so proud of Ila.

[@emmk4992]

But I think it can go much faster. Chasing and free flying are two different things. While chasing it has to focus on the pray which cuts the speed.

[@Ps3thi]

Nice Bentley commercial by BBC Earth 😊😊

[@qevoh]

Man, that's a beautiful bird there 😎

[@KadirAksu28]

So this bird is supposedly my ancestors totem. I can see why now xD

[@Vizivirag]

That's so cool! Ours is the saker :)

[@yaldabaoth9235]

stfu anatolians

[@thamirajlawi1073]

Amazing

[@michaelochido3244]

I kept watching a most beautiful & graceful bird...btw which car was that!!

[@steveguest8028]

What a stunning creature

[@MegaEvilsaurus66]

The coolest part is that pigeons outpace most other fast animals with a top speed of near 100 mph flying level to the ground.

[@lamaspacos]

NO. That only happens with a strong tail wind assistance.

[@clockworkolive8533]

so it reaches 93 km/h (54mph) anyway the sprint is not impresive for a gyrfalcon , the top speed of this birds at level flight is 145 km/h (90 mph). look at 4:03 she decides to keep a low profile fliying and takes advantage of the air cushion against the floor, look how much it accelerates then.

[@paxwallacejazz]

It's interesting to see her in powered ground effect flight.

[@ihateoutube]

quality content

[@HandyCraftChannel.]

Amazing birds...

[@TCPUDPATM]

Great video, but it'd be so much better in 60FPS!

[@Percy1800sDetective]

Source for the music?

[@sonambal3723]

What a beautiful animal ♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@wildwildItaly]

Love bbc earth♥️🦉

[@kcgfy81]

There's speed and there's precision. Then there's falcon speed and precision.

[@francescomortillaro5645]

I saw 4 Gyrfalcons within 3 days this week!!! I live in southeastern Michigan

[@wiryantirta]

imagine if they got the stig to drive instead

[@davemyers524]

I like the way falcons attack the bike rider

[@BigDuke6ixx]

Why wasn't the headwind factored into the car's speed? If the headwind was 10mph and the car was 50mph groundspeed them the bird had an airspeed of 60mph to catch the car. They clearly stated that she had to 'fight the wind' so obviously they didn't factor it in. Basic physics and maths. At the end the presenter said the bird did 'at least 50mph' which was a bit vague. All they needed was a anemometer being held up out of the car and they would have had her exact airspeed.

[@user-ts4bn7wp9l]

She is very cool

[@Henry-hy3bd]

Gyrfalcons are my favorite falcons and I hope I can someday become a falconer or at least have the chance to fly one

[@Tremeslay]

Two beauties. ^^

[@PeterXian]

that's a lot of hardwork for a bird foot

[@wetfitent1321]

Thanks for giving simple people like me MPH. I thought for sure I was going to get the speed in kilometers.

[@user-oh1cv6zp8n]

Royal Bird!

[@hasanfoyejul5500]

ধন্যবাদ... thanks

[@pollo7549]

She should join The grand tours she makes a perfect presenter. She has all the characteristics, British, Beautiful and funny.

[@blazingguyop]

Camera man is faster than both of them

[@pragmat1k]

Must go faster, must go faster!

[@thedreamsoldierful]

One time we were driving on the freeway & I saw a pigeon flying as fast as we were driving. I check the speedometer at at 60 MPH :o

[@ProfessorBorax]

SI units pliz

[@VQKingpin]

ProfessorBorax learn to convert it yourself genius

[@Guydebute]

@@VQKingpin Retarded units are just plain retarded, sorry the whole world doesn't bother using that failed measurement system. Just admit metric's superiority and stfu.

[@justcuzitsepic5874]

3:19 music? anyone?

[@ravioli2646]

Lel said the same thing!

[@saganworshipper6062]

Darude-Sandstorm

[@chady3130]

Thanks ka

[@andytwon91]

I need a Pidgey to start

[@snitox]

I legit think aliens in other planets that are humanoids have wings

[@gartengeflugel924]

At the end you can see they use a quail as a lure

[@user-ev2ge4pc7t]

I would be so pissed if someone pulled my food away right before I could get it.

[@jacktonzola4115]

I know Loyd. I saw him in a documentary called owl power

[@stroads.]

That's looks like King Regis' car...

[@KarimMuhammed2001]

She is beautiful falcon !!

[@DiogoJ1]

Fast enough to keep up with the Arseille. Thumbs up if you understand the reference.

[@DuoBanditBTW]

is this the same area where TopGear is done ?

[@coco80526]

no se que prueba es esa todo el mundo sabe que la velocidad en mano por mano es de 80 a 85 km y en picado mas de 250 km hora

[@charonstyxferryman]

Un halcón peregrino adulto puede usar la gravedad de la tierra para alcanzar velocidades de hasta 390 kilómetros por hora. Estabas viendo un gerifalte

[@Jemsy_]

I'm 2 minutes in and I gotta say: If I bought a Bentley and a freakin' bird beats me in a race, I'm selling the wheels and buying a bird to scam other idiots into racing it. Beautiful falcon though, they're so cool.

[@dulcamarabuffo]

I wonder how she would have fared had she not had to breath the exhaust from the Bentley.

[@chuckr1951]

Theoretically the Gyr should be faster in level flight. If strength/thrust is proportional to mass, since the drag increase does not keep up, the top speed should increase. Also given the same form/shape, wing loading increases with size. Again, top speed should trend up with wing loading. I'm a mechanical engineer, not an aeronautical engineer, so I may be full of it. I have fooled around a little with the math. I know my 900 gram Red-tailed Hawk is considerably faster than my 600 gram Harris's, but the RT looks a lot slower. Imagine, at 5,000 feet dropping two different sized balls of the same density in air, not a vaccum. The larger ball will hit the ground first. Why? Increased force is proportional to mass, but drag increases at a slower rate. In a vaccum all objects fall to the ground at same rate.

[@SS-qo3nt]

Poor baby got only a chicken foot for all her hard work!

[@lamaspacos]

The top level flight speed (without wind assistance) of Gyr, Peregrine and Homing pigeons is about 80-95km/h, maybe exceptionally reaching near 110km/h.

[@bumblebee7922]

wow!!

[@1minuteago296]

And also plz use SI units thqu

[@11jeopardy11]

"hello everyone, Maddie here!" sad no McCann ever

[@geyza0711]

naughty

[@mehmetturkoglu9753]

superrrrrrrrrrrr

[@dimidomo7946]

And it was once said that turkeys couldn't fly...hmmm. I must say though, the high speed/slow speed photographer and the falconry expert were invaluable additions to an entertaining video. Bentley would be my choice of luxury high-end roadsters.

[@vinceangsuban2611]

I hope the bird doesnt feel mad or anything

[@rickbullock4331]

50 m.p.h. is pretty fast. I was watching a video where they claimed this type of falcon could fly in level flight at around 3 times that speed. I’m guessing they were lying?😬🙄🤔

[@sigerlion8608]

Horizontal flight is the slowest, diving speed is the fastest. There are different methods and speeds of flying.

[@mgn5667]

just winging it. .....chuckle