Photo: Peregrine falcon on the wing near Baker Lake

Sun alights on one of Nunavut’s most formidable winged hunters in late September. This Lars Qaqqaq photo of a peregrine falcon near Baker Lake was chosen by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. as one of three photos of the month for October. The size of a common crow, the peregrine falcon, with its pointed wings, can fly at speeds of up to 300 km/h in spectacular dives called “stoops,” to catch smaller birds in flight with its powerful talons. Peregrine falcons were nearly wiped out in North America in the early 1970s due to pesticides, mainly DDT, which caused a thinning and breaking of the bird’s eggshells during incubation. While still considered a species at risk in Canada, their numbers have greatly rebounded thanks to pesticide bans, according to the Government of Canada’s species at risk registry. You can find more of Qaqqaq’s Nunavut photos on his Facebook page. (PHOTO BY LARS QAQQAQ)