Falcons are the fastest birds on earth, with the top speed of any animal known at the moment currently belonging to the peregrine falcon at 386 km/h. This is thanks to the falcon's unique hunting technique of diving down at high speeds towards their prey, and then rather than grabbing their prey with their talons, they hit their prey, paralyzing them. This allows the falcon to change its beak shape to something that can easily tear through the meal rather than catch prey.