Birds Guide

Falcons
Hybrid white gyrfalcon and saker falcon.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Falconiformes   Family: Falconidae   Genus: Falco Linnaeus, 1758
Species
About 37; see text.

A Falcon is any of several species of raptors in the genus Falco. The word came from Latin falco, from Latin falx = "sickle" because of the shape of its wings.

Overview

Falcons have thin pointed wings, which give them speed and the ability to change direction rapidly. Peregrine Falcons, the fastest birds on Earth, are said to have reached stoop speeds of up to 200 mph.

Young falcons in their first year have longer flight feathers than adults. This makes their configuration more like a general-purpose bird such as a broadwing while they are learning how to fly.

Other falcons include the Gyrfalcon, Lanner Falcon, and the Merlin. Some small insectivorous falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some which sometimes hover as they hunt for small rodents are called kestrels.

The traditional term for a male falcon is a "tiercel", from Latin tertius, because it is roughly a third smaller than the female.

An eyass is a raptor chick still in its downy stage: the word arose by misdivision of Old French un niais, from Latin presumed *nidiscus, from Latin nidus = "nest". Or it is sometime sused for a falcon which had been taken from its nest before it flew.

The technique of hunting with trained captive birds of prey is known as falconry.

The falcons are part of the family Falconidae, which also includes the caracaras, Laughing Falcon, forest falcons, and falconets.

In February 2005 the Canadian scientist Dr Louis Lefebvre announced a method of measuring avian IQ in terms of their innovation in feeding habits. Falcons were named among the most intelligent birds based on this scale.

Falcon fossils have been found dated 50 million years ago in the Eocene in the Messel Pit in Germany.

Species in taxonomic order

• Lesser Kestrel, Falco naumanni
  Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus
  Madagascar Kestrel, Falco newtoni
  Mauritius Kestrel, Falco punctatus
  Seychelles Kestrel, Falco araea
  Spotted Kestrel, Falco moluccensis
  Nankeen Kestrel, Falco cenchroides
  American Kestrel, Falco sparverius
  Greater Kestrel, Falco rupicoloides
  Fox Kestrel, Falco alopex
  Grey Kestrel, Falco ardosiaceus
  Dickinson's Kestrel, Falco dickinsoni
  Banded Kestrel, Falco zoniventris
  Red-necked Falcon, Falco chicquera
  Red-footed Falcon, Falco vespertinus
  Amur Falcon, Falco amurensis
  Eleonora's Falcon, Falco eleonorae
  Sooty Falcon, Falco concolor
  Aplomado Falcon, Falco femoralis
  Merlin Falcon, Falco columbarius
  Bat Falcon, Falco rufigularis
  Orange-breasted Falcon, Falco deiroleucus
  Eurasian Hobby, Falco subbuteo
  African Hobby, Falco cuvierii
  Oriental Hobby, Falco severus
  Australian Hobby, Falco longipennis
  New Zealand Falcon, Falco novaeseelandiae
  Brown Falcon, Falco berigora
  Grey Falcon, Falco hypoleucos
  Lanner Falcon, Falco biarmicus
  Laggar Falcon, Falco jugger
  Saker Falcon, Falco cherrug
  Black Falcon, Falco subniger
  Gyr Falcon, Falco rusticolus
  Prairie Falcon, Falco mexicanus
  Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
      Barbary Falcon, Falco (peregrinus) pelegrinoides
  Taita Falcon, Falco fasciinucha

External links

• Falconidae videos on the Internet Bird Collection