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The Gyrfalcon – A Circumpolar Raptor
Their feathers give them an edge for nesting high in the Arctic.
© Henry T. McLin
Gyrfalcons are circumpolar, nesting in the far north of Asia, North America, and Europe, including Iceland and Greenland. They evolved as a distinct species in the Pleistocene Era, around 100,000 years ago. Their large size and warm feathering gave them an edge for nesting high in the Arctic. Gyrfalcons reuse the same nesting site year after year, and some nests have been occupied for 2,500 years!
BirdNote®
The Gyrfalcon - A Circumpolar Raptor
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[Gyrfalcon calls]
Gyrfalcons are majestic birds. At two feet tall, they’re the largest of all falcons. And these powerful raptors can dive on prey at 130 miles per hour.
[Swoosh sound]
Gyrfalcons are circumpolar, nesting in the far north of Asia, North America, and Europe, including Iceland and Greenland. The Gyrfalcons that nest in northern Greenland are especially eye-catching — their feathers are a bright, snowy white.
[Gyrfalcon calls]
Gyrfalcons evolved as a distinct species in the Pleistocene Era, around 100,000 years ago. Their large size and warm feathering gave them an edge for nesting high in the Arctic. Some spend the entire winter on frigid sea ice, hunting other birds. Others travel south during the coldest parts of the year, sometimes even into the northern United States.
[Gyrfalcon calls]
Gyrfalcons reuse the same nesting site year after year. Some nests have been occupied for 2500 years! Imagine! That means that Gyrfalcons were feeding chicks at these nest sites when Sparta was just going to war with Athens.
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. ML138146 Gyrfalcon recordist B McCaffery
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2020 BirdNote August 2020 / December 2025 Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# GYRF-02-2020-08-27 GYRF-02
Reference:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/07/falcon-battle-over-…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8103000/8103872.stm
https://now.guidetoiceland.is/2018/08/15/news/gyrfalcon-births-at-40-ye…
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Michael Stein
NarratorSights & Sounds
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