10 amazing facts you didn’t know about Irish birds

Richard Fitzpatrick spent some time with acclaimed bird expert, Anthony McGeehan and was left shocked at how little he knew about our feathered friends

1. Flying like a rocket

The peregrine falcon, which isn’t much bigger than a racing pigeon, can travel at 250m/h. It reaches such a head of steam that the G-forces it encounters would knock a pilot out cold. A tell-tale sign for its presence in the air is the panic it induces in other birds. “Its trick is it has to get above its target,” says birdwatcher and author, Anthony McGeehan. “When it goes into a stoop, it has gravity behind it so it increases its speed several-fold. The bird below it is sunk if the peregrine is on target because it will be going like a rocket.”