Duck Hawk vs Gray/Purple Heron

Falco peregrinus compared with Ardea cinerea

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Duck Hawk	Gray/Purple Heron
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Falconiformes (Falconiformes)	Pelecaniformes (Pelecaniformes)
Family	Falconidae	Ardeidae
Genus	Falco	Ardea
Species	Falco peregrinus	Ardea cinerea

Evolutionary Relationship

Duck Hawk and Gray/Purple Heron share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

View Class: Aves

Conservation Status

Duck Hawk

LC — Least Concern

Population: ~140.0K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Gray/Purple Heron

LC — Least Concern

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Duck Hawk	Gray/Purple Heron
Diet	Carnivore	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	15 years	15 years
Average Length	48 cm	95 cm
Average Weight	1.0 kg	1.5 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Duck Hawk

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (7 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

Gray/Purple Heron

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries).

Duck Hawk

The fastest animal on the planet, peregrine falcons achieve aerial dive speeds exceeding 320 km/h when stooping on prey, stunning or killing birds in flight with a blow from their feet. Found on every continent except Antarctica in diverse habitats from Arctic tundra to tropical rainforest. Nearly extinct in North America and Europe from DDT poisoning in the 1960s–70s, peregrines recovered dramatically following pesticide bans and successful urban nesting programs.

Gray/Purple Heron

A large, elegant wading bird reaching up to 1 meter in height, gray herons inhabit wetlands, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Patient, solitary hunters, they stand motionless for long periods before striking fish, frogs, and small mammals with lightning-fast dagger bill strikes. They nest colonially in tall trees in rookeries called heronries, sometimes shared with other colonial waterbirds. Widely distributed and of Least Concern globally.