Photo: Fledgling gyrfalcons shedding their fluff

These twin gyrfalcons, photographed on a hill overlooking the water near Cambridge Bay, are growing fast, shedding their fluffy baby down for mottled brown feathers. The world’s largest falcon, according to allabourtbirds.org, the gyrfalcon breeds in the Arctic regions in summer and then flies back to southern Canada and parts of the American northwest for the winter. It preys on other birds, mostly ptarmigan, and during the breeding season, female gyrfalcons have been known to cache food for their young. (PHOTO BY RED SUN PRODUCTIONS)