At One Place

peregrine falcon vs red fox

peregrine falcon vs red fox
Evenly matched on the numbers
Measured comparison — not a prediction

The fastest animal on Earth, reaching over 320 km/h in a hunting stoop. The most widely distributed wild carnivore on Earth, at home from tundra to city centre. The measurements below split evenly, which is rarer than it sounds.

The measurements

peregrine falcon red fox
Mass 0.33–1.5 kg 2.2–14 kg
Length 0.34–0.58 m 0.45–0.9 m
Height — 0.4 m
Top speed 90–390 km/h 50 km/h
Lifespan 8–19 yr 2–15 yr

Where each one leads

  • Mass: red fox is 6.7× heavier.
  • Length: red fox is 1.6× longer.
  • Top speed: peregrine falcon is 6.4× faster.
  • Lifespan: peregrine falcon is 3.3× a longer life.

What this does and does not tell you

These are measured averages with real ranges behind them, and every figure links to its own page. What they cannot do is settle an encounter. Outcomes between animals turn on circumstance — who initiates, whether either is hungry, defending young, injured or cornered, and what the terrain favours. Size and bite force are not decisive on their own, and most of these pairs never meet in the wild in any case, because their ranges do not overlap.

Every figure here is an average with a substantial spread. Individual animals vary enormously — a large individual of the smaller species routinely exceeds a small individual of the larger one.

Common questions

Is a peregrine falcon bigger than a red fox?
red fox is heavier — 2.2–14 kg against 0.33–1.5 kg.
Who would win, a peregrine falcon or a red fox?
That is not something measurements can settle. The comparison above shows which animal leads on each measure, but an actual encounter depends on circumstance, motivation, health and terrain — and most pairs like this never meet in the wild.

Related pages

Sources

  1. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Smithsonian Institution

How these figures are compiled and checked