This is bird note.

The Peregrin Falcon is a quintessential bird of prey.

It has highly specialized hunting anatomy. It shares with hawks and eagles, long considered the

falcons close relatives. There's the keen eyesight, the lethal looking hooked beak, and the strong sharp grasping talons.

So, it comes as a stunning surprise that recent DNA research has perched the Falcon,

closest on the evolutionary tree to parrots, not eagles.

Scientists have puzzled for centuries over how different groups of birds are related.

Did birds that look physically alike such as falcons and hawks arise from a common ancestor?

Or did they reach those similarities independently?

This line of inquiry was given an immense boost

in recent years when an international research team unraveled the full genetic codes

of 48 species of birds. Groundbreaking new findings are pouring forth.

Among them, a newly revised evolutionary tree

for birds that places falcons and parrots

on adjoining branches.

The bird genome research will likely generate new insights into the evolution of birds for years to come.

For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann.