[2] The adults are generally identified by the presence of heavy horizontal barring across their abdomen, large "tear-drop" shaped markings on their breast (more pronounced in the females) extending up into the auriculars, a white, smokey-white, or grayish background color on the breast (as opposed to the salmon to orangish background color on most other subspecies), very broad malar stripe to a full dark cap, and wider, stronger mandibles than is commonly seen in the species as a whole.

Starting in the western part of the range, the Commander Islands are generally thought to be the extent to which they exist in Russia.

Although they are speculatively referenced as nesting on the Kamchatka Peninsula and possibly the northern Kurile Islands, no evidence has been provided to support these locations.

This group has a very uniformly and densely distributed population, with roughly 5–8 miles (8.0–12.9 km) of coastline between each eyrie on average.

[2] Unfortunately this astounding concentration of peregrine falcons was intimately linked to the very robust local seabird population that has declined since the 1950s due to unknown factors.

This fact and the slightly different morphology of this sub-group has caused some confusion amongst researchers as to the validity of F. p. pealei existing within this range.

[2][5] Within its range, Peale's falcon can be found on rough, rocky seashores, sea cliffs, seastacks, islands, islets, and beaches.