This is bird note.

Each season ushers in its own bounty of bird life.

Winter is the best season to highlight North America's feathered thunderbolts, the falcons. the like this paragon we're hearing, moves southward, closer to their many admiring observers.

Hurtling through the air on blade-like wings, Falcons rank among the fastest of all birds

and the most adept at capturing prey in flight.

One Falcon much more prevalent across the U.S. in winter is the Merlin.

Ten inches tall with a two foot wingspan, the Merlin chases down small birds from sparrows to

sandpipers. Small but powerful, the Fearless Merlin will buzz even a huge eagle that enters its airspace.

The majestic jeer falcon drifts south and winter to the northern tier of states.

Larger than a red-tailed hawk. In a direct sprint, the jeer falcon can overtake even the fastest duck.

The mid-sized peregrine falcon nests in some locales across the country, but its numbers are greatest in winter, especially

near the coasts. During its dive on a hapless pigeon or Dunland, a Peregrin may reach an

airspeed approaching 200 miles an hour.

For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann.

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