IT'S not every day that you have to wear hard hats to scale a clock tower.



US researchers have armed themselves with wooden shields and braved the sharp beaks of predatory peregrine falcons in the name of science.



The falcons are nesting at the University of Toledo and researchers are hoping to take blood samples from the chicks and attach tracking bands to their feet.



At a swoop speed of more than 300km/h, faster than a falling skydiver - the peregrine falcon is one of the fastest animals in the world.