On Dec. 26, 1820, Audubon felled just north of Natchez, Mississippi, a Great-footed Hawk. The bird is known today as the Peregrine falcon. Audubon described the Peregrine falcon pursuing birds “with a rapidity scarcely to be conceived.” Indeed, the bird has since been clocked traveling as fast as 240 miles per hour in its flight to catch prey.
When Audubon drew the Peregrine falcon for Birds of America, Audubon portrayed the bird ripping apart a Green-winged teal, thus ranking the Peregrine falcon as among the more graphic drawings in Birds of America. As might be imagined, such a formidable hunter does not limit its targets to Green-winged teals. French speakers in North America called the bird “Mangeur de Poulets” or Devourer of Chickens. When Audubon later received opportunities to exhibit his artwork in England, the Peregrine falcon created the kind of shock and sensation that had people practically racing to subscribe to Birds of America. Traveling down the Mississippi River in the winter of 1820, Audubon and his assistant, Joseph Mason, counted up to 50 of the fastest animal in the world rocketing through the sky and snatching up Green-winged teals and other unfortunate and unsuspecting birds and small mammals.