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Falcon

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Gyrfalcon, Falco rusticolus
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Where are they found? Asia, Europe, Greenland, North America ...

 


Falcon
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
common name for members of the Falconidae, a heterogeneous family of long-winged birds of prey closely related to the hawk. Falcons (genus Falco) range in size from the 61/2-in.

Falcon General name given for Falconidae , a heterogeneous family of long-winged birds of prey closely related to the Hawk. The size of a Vulcan varies from six and a half inches , falconet to the 24 in.

Falconry is said to have been the favourite hunting sport of English Kings from Alfred the Great through to George III, with Royal Falconers held in very high esteem.

Falcons
Birds of Prey ... The Sport of Falconry
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The word comes from their Latin name falco, related to Latin falx ("sickle") because of the shape of these birds' wings.
Overview ...

Falcon Conservation: The 1950s saw a steep decline in peregrine falcon populations due to DDT pollution. Through conservation efforts this falcon is making a slow comeback.
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Bald Eagle
"Bald"? Not exactly. Meet America's favorite bird.

Falcons are roughly divisible into three or four groups. The first contains the kestrels (probably excepting the American Kestrel);[9] usually small and stocky falcons of mainly brown upperside color and sometimes sexually dimorphic; ...

A Falcon is any of several species of bird of the genus Falco, such as the Peregrine Falcon which are raptors or birds of prey.

Gyrfalcon Photos
Click on the thumbnail for high-resolution photos. Click here for the species description page for the Gyrfalcon.
Gyrfalcon 1 (Juvenile) ...

Gyrfalcon Behaviour
No observations regarding Gyrfalcon behavior have been submitted to the database yet.
Interesting Facts about Gyrfalcons ...

The gyrfalcon is fairly common in the far northern latitudes. It seems to have escaped the severe population declines many birds of prey experienced due to eggshell thinning caused by the pesticide DDT in the last half of the 20th century.
Fun facts ...

Three falcons that are very similar to each other are the Saker, Lanner and Luggar. Below are some images of each.
Lanner Falcon
Lanner Falcon ...

Peregrine falcons are one of, if not the, fastest animals in the world. They are believed to achieve speeds of over 200kph (124mph) when plunging from the sky after prey.

Falcons pair for life and usually build their nest on a high, inaccessible cliff. They return to the same nest each year. The nest itself is usually just a simple scrape and the ledge wide enough to take up to four young.

Falcons
The American Kestrel, also known inappropriately as the Sparrow Hawk and Killy Hawk, is a cavity nester, often using abandoned woodpecker holes in pines. It doesn't use feeders but may use a nest box.

Falcons are similar to hawks and are characterized by their long wings
and by a notch on the upper part of the bill which is hooked.
The feet are powerful, with long, curved, sharp talons.

FALCONIDAE
Authors: Clum, Nancy J., and Tom J. Cade
Revisors: Booms, Travis L., and Tom J. Cade ...

Falcons - Family Falconidae
Crested Caracara Caracara plancus. Accidental.

Gyrfalcon
Falco rusticolus Linnaeus
Status Rare in winter. Although there were only three records in the nineteenth century (first mentioned by Blakiston and Bland 1855) and only 7 more up to 1960, ...

Gyrfalcon much larger, with broader wings, longer tail (folded wingtips do not reach tail tip), and only an indistinct face stripe.
Prairie Falcon paler and more brown, has dark "armpits." ...

Bat Falcon (Falco rufigularis)
Brazil
The Bat Falcon is distributed from Mexico through Central and South America to northern Argentina.

The falcon will then rest for a moment, gripping its kill with one foot, standing with her wings spread over the kill, an action called mantling. The falcon will pluck the feathers and then eat the entire bird, later ridding itself of the castings.

The falcon was listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1970. The peregrine was included in the first list of endangered species promulgated under Michigan's Endangered Species Act.

These falcons are formidable hunters that prey on other birds (and bats) in mid-flight. Peregrines hunt from above and, after sighting their prey, drop into a steep, swift dive that can top 200 miles an hour (320 kilometers an hour).

These Falcons were all that were seen of this species during our expedition, and I am inclined to think that this bird must be rare in that part of Labrador.

ORDER: Falconiformes (diurnal birds of prey)
FAMILY: Falconidae (falcons)
GENUS/SPECIES: Falco peregrinus ...

Laggar Falcon (Falco jugger) is a scarce but widespread resident in India. Size: 45 cm
Anseriformes
Apodiformes ...

Prairie Falcon
355. Falco mexicanus Schleg. PRAIRIE FALCON. Ad.--Above, grayish brown; primaries and inner webs of all but the middle tail-feathers with numerous buffy bars or spots; below, white, streaked and spotted with dark grayish brown. Im.

Aplomado Falcon
Relatives in same Genus
Prairie Falcon (F. mexicanus)
Peregrine Falcon (F. peregrinus)
American Kestrel (F. sparverius)
Eurasian Kestrel (F. tinnunculus) ...

Aplomado Falcons tend to hunt in pairs. They can occasionally be seen hunting in larger groups, however this is a rarity. Because of this, they are known as semi-gregarious.

The term falcon derives from the Latin falco meaning 'sickle'. This references the curved beak and talons of these birds.
6.

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
Current status is de-listed
The FWC received a petition to re-evaluate the status of the Peregrine Falcon in 1999.

Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus
This spectacular falcon was once one of America's most seriously endangered species. It suffered an alarming drop in numbers during the 1950s and 1960s.

Peregrine falcons are monogamous, meaning they mate for life. They also breed in the same territory each year. The male courts the female for about one month, using aerial displays.

Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus
The peregrine falcon is a bird of prey. Adults have blue-gray wings, dark brown backs, a buff colored underside and white faces with a black tear stripe on their cheeks. They have a hooked beaks and strong talons.

Peregrine falcons are found along Assateague Island National Seashore and the nearby barrier islands. Assateague is an important recovery area for the peregrine falcon (once listed under the endangered species act).

Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon:
Falco peregrinus
Distribution: resident in Britain, mainly in the south & south-west of England, Scotland & Ireland. Also rest of Europe, Asia, North & South America, Africa & Australasia.

Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus cassini
Local Name: Sparrow Hawk, Cassin's Falcon
Breeding Range: Falklands, Chile & Argentina
Length: 42cm.
Falklands Population: ~300 breeding pairs
World Population: unknown ...

Peregrine falcons do not build a nest. Usually, they create a scrape on the ledge of a cliff and the eggs are laid there. Eggs have, however, also been reported in old bird nests or in tree cavities.

Peregrine falcons are endangered all throughout Canada because of pesticides. Scientists have set up populations in southern Canada by captive-breeding the falcons to make sure that they do not die out.
Environment Canada
Alberta's At-Risk Species ...

FALCONINAE. FALCONINE BIRDS.
Bill short, stout, cerate; upper mandible with the tip elongated and decurved; lower mandible rounded and thin-edged at the end. Head rather large, broadly ovate, feathered. Eyes large, with prominent superciliary ridges.

The female falcon is called the falcon; the male is called the tercel (from the German word terzel, which means one-third, since the male is roughly one-third the size of the female).

The Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) is a resident across much of the western United States and northern Mexico.

Unlike the Falco falcons in the same family, the birds in the five relevant genera are not fast-flying aerial hunters, but are comparably sluggish and often scavengers (a notable exception being the Red-throated Caracara).

Gyrfalcon
Description
Distinguishing Features - Gyrfalcons are the largest falcon in the world, up to 56 cm in length. They have three plummage phases, gray, black and white.

01/19/98 NAME - Peregrine Falcon FAMILY - Falconidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Falco peregrinus REFERENCES - 25 and 1 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Winter visitor - migrant. 26 Winter visitor - migrant.

The Peregrine Falcon is a large falcon where both male and female look alike. The female, or the falcon, is about 1/3 larger than the male, or tiercel. Adults have a dark slate blue color to the back and wings, a dark blue tail that is lightly barred.

Similar Species: Peregrine Falcon
ESSAYS:
Raptor Hunting; Size and Sex in Raptors; Conservation of Raptors; Wing Shapes; Metallic Poisons; Site Tenacity.

Falcons and allies (Falconidae)
Overview
The peregrine is a large and powerful falcon. It has long, broad, pointed wings and a relatively short tail.

Falcons and caracaras are superb flyers and excellent, agile hunters. They have long wings which are usually narrow and pointed. These birds rely more on live prey than carrion. Typical falcons have a bony tubercle in the nostril.

Falconiformes
FAMILY:
Divided into the "Old World" vultures of Eurasia and Africa (Family Accipitridae) and "New World" vultures of the Americas (Family Cathartidae).

Falcon Chick Is a Female
Last year's pygmy falcon chick is still occasionally fed by the parents but she can often be seen "hunting and attacking" plants. She is a fairly fearless but very calm bird. The parents have started another clutch.

Falcon
Can see a 10 cm. object from a distance of 1.5 km.
Visual acuity is 2.6 times better than human. (Garcia et al., Falcon visual acuity, Science, 192:263-265, 1976.)
Can see sharp images even when diving at 100 miles/hr.

Falconidae - Falcons
Merlin (Falco columbarius). Pea Island NWR, Dare Co., NC 10/19/03
Gruiformes - Rails & Cranes
Gruidae - Cranes
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) - Guilford Co., NC 3/2005.

Falconiformes: vultures, hawks, eagles
Galliformes: grouse, pheasants, turkeys, quails
Gaviiformes: loons ...

Gyrfalcon Nest
Ten years ago when I visited Denali National Park in mid July, the highlight of the trip was a pair of Gyrfalcons with their fledgling at Polychrome Pass. The birds (or maybe one of their offspring) are still nesting in the area.

Capra falconeri
Markhor
Taxonomy Capra falconeri [Wagner, 1839]. Citation: Gelehrt. Anz. I. K. Bayer Akad. Wiss., München, 9:430. Type locality: India, Kashmir, Astor.

Taita Falcon
Africa Bird Guide Information: The Taita falcon (Falco fasciinucha) is a small raptor with a banded nape. It was first identified in Kenya and is similar to the Peregrine falcon but smaller in size. The two birds often...

These falcons also breed in coastal areas of east and south Mexico and Central America as well as through much of South America where they are found as high as 4000 m (13,000 ft) in the Andes (Howell and Webb1995, Am. Ornithol.

Page 1: Falcons - Peregrine Falcon, Merlin (2 photos) and Kestrel (April 2007); Allen's Hummingbird, Osprey, Lesser Goldfinch and Western Bluebird (May 2007); Osprey (July 2007).

See also: Eagle, Pigeon, Hawk, Peregrine, Vulture