RAPTORS
Eagels | Falcons | Hawks | Owls

FALCONS

Bird: Barbary Falcon
(Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides)
Greek, meaning-Like a peregrine.

Range:
Locally in northern Africa from Morocco and Mauritania east across Algeria, Tunisia, and southern Niger to northern Kenya, Sudan, Egypt, Near East, Iraq, western Iran, northern Somalia, and Arabia. Found in semi-desert, desert, dry steppe, and rocky regions.

Size:
Length: 20 - 25 cm
Wingspan: 40 cm
Weight: Male 360 - 450 g ; Female 580 - 700 g

Diet:
Small to medium sized birds as well as pipistrelle bats.

Description:
A small falcon approximately the size of a large pigeon. Adult's back and wings are a pale bluish grey. The chest and underparts are a pale rufous color with slight barring. The crown is mixed with rusty red and the nape is bright rufous chestnut.

Natural History:
The Barbary falcon is a desert-adapted falcon. They nest on cliffs in barren country, favoring semi-desert areas with rocky hills, desert foothills, and barren mountain slopes up to 2500 m (8200 ft.).

Personal History:
Leizl and McCloud - Acquired from a private breeder in 2000 at 3 months of age.

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Bird: Lanner Falcon
(Falco biarmicus)

Range:
Found in Africa and Southern parts of Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. In Europe, the Lanner Falcon breeds in southern Italy and Sicily and possibly still in Croatia and Yugoslavia. It is scattered in Albania, Greece and Crete, Lesvos, and possibly Rhodes, Turkey, and the Caucasus. Lanner Falcons formerly bred on Cyprus but today are considered a vagrant. They are more widespread in North Africa and are found in north Mauritania, Western Sahara and Morocco, north and central Algeria and Tunisia, north and central Libya and in Egypt mainly in the Nile Valley and the Red Sea coast. Also breeds in small numbers in Sinai, Isreal, Jordan, and Syria. Inhabits mountains, deserts, and plains. Also found in dry steppe and savanna, rocky desert and semi-desert, on inland cliffs, rocky sea-coasts, and rugged mountains.

Size:
Length: 43-50 cm
Wingspan: 95-115 cm
Weight: Male 550-750g ; Female 740-1300g

Bird: Peregrine Falcon
(Falco peregrinus)
Meaning - "wanderer"

Range:
The Peregrine has the most extensive natrual distribution of any bird in the world. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. They are widely distributed throughout North America. They are found in open country, tundra, moor, steppe, seacoast, cliff, and city habitats.

Size:
Length: 41 - 51 cm (16 - 20 in.)
Wingspan: 91 - 112 cm (36 - 44 in.)
Weight: Male 453 - 685 g ; Female 719 - 952 g
Average Weight: Male 581 g ; Female 817 g

Diet:
The bulk of the diet consists of birds; primarily game birds, passerines, doves, and pigeons. They have been reported taking geese and other large birds such as shore birds. Some rare prey reportedly documented include small mammals, frogs, and insects. The majority of prey is captured on the wing.

Description:
They are roughly crow sized (medium to large classification). The adult male's crown, nape, and back of neck are bluish slate with concealed buff feather bases on the nape. The mantle, scapulars, back, and uppertail coverts are blue-grey, barred darker slate, with blackish shafts. The tail is basally pale blue-grey, darker terminally, barred blackish, and the bars are broader terminally and tipped greyish white. The greater and median wing coverts are blue-grey. The primary coverts are blackish with whitish tips and the lesser coverts are blackish and edged grey. The primaries are blackish, narrowly tipped whitish and the secondaries are blue-grey with tooth-like grey bars on the inner webs. There is a broad moustachial streak, the ear coverts are blackish, and there is a small greyish white patch between the moustachial stripe and ear coverts. The chin and throat are white, tinged buff. The upper breast is deeper buff with a few black spots and the rest of the under parts are darker buff closely and variably barred black. The axillaries and underwing coverts are more strongly barred than the rest. The eyes are brown, the cere and orbit are yellow tinged greenish, and the legs are bright yellow. The adult female is often darker on the lower back and rump, with more buff or white feather bases showing. Below, there are large drop-shaped markings on the upper breast. The female is more heavily barred than the male. Immatures are much browner than adults, with most of their feathers edged with buff. Their scapulars have tooth-like pale brown markings on the edges. The moustachial streak is narrower than the adults' and the ear coverts are buffish white. The under parts are buff, streaked heaviest on the flanks and sides, with brown forming bars on the lower flanks. The underwing coverts are broadly barred buffish white to dark brown and the undertail coverts have narrow, widely spaced, wavy bars. The eyes are brown, the cere and orbit are greenish, and the legs and feet are bluish grey to greenish yellow.

Natural History:
Their flight is characterized by rapid wingbeats. They are built for speed and agility rather than for soaring. Their vocalization is often a high pitched rapid alarm call. They are capable of reaching great speed while in a stoop (or dive). They have been reported at speeds reaching approximately 250 mph. They mate for life and will reuse old breending and nesting sites. They mate on ledges or cliff tops, and sometimes also on tree branches. They do not make a nest but use a scrape in the earth or the old nest of a buzzare, raven, or eagle. Their nests are sometimes placed on tall buildings, or on the ground or in hollow stumps, depending on the region. They lay 2 - 5 eggs heavily marked with red or brown. The female does most of the incubating although the male helps. Incubation lasts for 28 - 29 days and fledging occurs 35 - 42 days after hatching. The young, however, remain dependent on their parents and stay in the area for about 2 months after fledging. There was a severe drop in the Peregrine Falcon population during the 1940's - 1960's due to DDT. The falcons often consumed other birds (prey items) contaminated with DDT, which in turn lead to the thinning of Peregrine eggshells, thus reducing successful reproduction. The eggs would crack under the weight of the incubating parent. They were listed as endangered in 1969. Through the banning and restriction of DDT usage and various reintroduction efforts, the Peregrine Falcons population has since been restored. They are commonly observed nesting and dwelling in various cities across the country. The building tops resemble and satiate this species natural cliff-dwelling behavior.

Personal History:
The NEI falcons have been raised in captivity and are used in educational programs which exhibit behaviors such as lure flying. Lure flying helps illustrate the speed and maneuverability of the bird.
Usu - A Cassini's Peregrine Falcon acquired from a private breeder in 2000 at 11 years old. Pictured above
Millie - A Gyr/Peregrine Falcon acquired from a private breeder in 1984 at under a year old.

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