Great Falcon
| Great Falcon | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Great Spotted Falcon ( Falco sparverius ), male |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Falco sparverius | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The kestrel ( Falco sparverius ), also known as the American kestrel, is a bird from the falcon-like family (Falconidae). The species resembles the kestrel , which is also native to Central Europe, in appearance and behavior , but is smaller and especially the males are significantly more colorful. The great spotted falcon inhabits open and semi-open landscapes of all kinds in large parts of North and South America and is also common in human settlement areas. He is not in danger.
description
Great Falcons are very small but powerfully built falcons with a relatively large head and short legs. The wings and tail are relatively short, the tail is clearly rounded at the end. The body length is 21-27 cm, the wingspan 52-61 cm. Similar to the kestrel, the kestrel shows only a slight reverse sex dimorphism in terms of size and weight, but a very pronounced sex dichroism . Males reach about 90% of the body size of females. Adult males of the nominate form weigh 97–120 g and have a wing length of 173–203 mm. Adult females of the nominate form reach a weight of 102–150 g and a wing length of 178–208 mm.
The males are very attractive in color. In adult males of the nominate form, the upper side of the trunk and tail is predominantly bright rust-red. The back, shoulders and umbrella feathers are banded in black for this reason. The tail has a broad black subterminal band and a narrow white, gray or reddish end band. The outer control feathers show two to four black cross bars on a whitish background next to the black end band. The upper wing-coverts are spotted black on a strong gray-blue background. The wing feathers are blackish on top and show a more or less pronounced white spot. The under wing-coverts and the underside of the trunk are cream-colored or light reddish beige, more whitish towards the tail. The lower chest and flanks are darkly spotted. The underside of the wings is banded dark gray on a whitish background, the tail is light reddish brown underneath.
The top of the head is blue-gray and usually has a red-brown spot in the middle. The red-brown nape shows an occipital face with two black round spots and is bordered at the front by a wide black stripe. The sides of the head, forehead and throat are white with a thick, black streak of beard under the eye. There is a narrow white brow streak above the eye.
Females are similar to males, but overall they are much less contrasting and colorful. They lack the gray-blue coloring of the upper wing-coverts, these are banded blackish on a rust-brown background like the back, shoulders, umbrella feathers and tail. The underside is dashed cream-colored and red-brown. The head drawing largely corresponds to that of the male, but the top of the head is more gray and dark dashed.
The iris is dark brown in all clothes, the eye ring, wax skin and legs are yellow, the claws are black. The beak is gray-black.
Vocalizations
The species is very happy to call, especially during the breeding season. The most frequent utterance is a variable speed series of five or more calls, which is described as " kliii " and which sounds in different contexts when aroused. During courtship , these calls made by both partners are quickly lined up and rise in pitch; begging females or young birds call louder and more drawn out.
distribution and habitat
The great distribution area of the great falcon includes large parts of North and South America . In North America it extends from the northern border of the taiga in Alaska and Canada over almost the entire USA to the south and into central Mexico . There and further south in Central America the distribution is patchy and limited to the mountains inland. In South America, the distribution is widespread, excluding the high elevations of the Andes, the Amazon rainforest and the lowland rainforests in eastern Brazil . The species has also colonized all of the larger islands in the Caribbean .
Like the kestrel, the kestrel inhabits open and semi-open landscapes of all kinds such as deserts and steppes, savannas , open woodlands, swamps and agricultural areas up to cities. The species occurs in North America from sea level up to 4000 m, in the Andes up to 4300 m.
Systematics
Numerous subspecies have been described in the large distribution area. Ferguson-Lees and Christie recognize 17 subspecies, 5 of them in North and Central America, four altogether quite small forms with largely reduced red spot on the skull in the Caribbean and eight predominantly quite pale and hardly dark spotted subspecies in South America.
Hunting style and diet
Common falcons primarily hunt from a hide or shake over potential prey; foot-hunting or rapid flight low above the ground are less frequent. The food spectrum used is very broad. It mainly consists of insects , small mammals and reptiles , but less often it eats small birds, amphibians , crayfish (Astacoidea), spiders and scorpions and, very rarely, carrion . In most parts of the distribution area, insects are the main food with up to 60% of all prey, especially large grasshoppers and dragonflies , but also beetles and caterpillars, for example.
Reproduction
The breeding season is very different depending on the geographic location of the occurrence in the huge distribution area, it ranges from May to July on the northern border of the taiga in North America, from January to August in the Caribbean and from October to March in the south of South America. Like all falcons, the species does not build nests; the egg-laying area is a simple hollow. The great falcons are mostly cave breeders, the breeding caves can be in trees, cacti, wooden poles, steep banks or rock walls. They often use old woodpecker burrows or, less often, kingfishers burrows . Breeding places on buildings under house roofs, in chimneys or in rain gutters are less common. Occasionally old bird nests are also used for breeding, especially those of magpies . Nest boxes are very welcome.
The clutch consists of 2–7, mostly 4–6 eggs in the north of the distribution area. The clutch size decreases in the direction of the tropics , in the Caribbean there are only 2–4 eggs. The incubation period is 26–32 days, the nestling period 28–31 days. The young birds are independent at the age of two to three weeks, sometimes even after a month.
hikes
In most of their area, the great falcon are resident birds . The northernmost populations in Alaska, most of Canada and the northern United States are migratory birds and apparently overwinter predominantly in Central America and the Caribbean. Withdrawal takes place in August and September, from the end of March to the beginning of May the animals return to the breeding area. The train in southern South America is less well known. However, the breeding areas in the south of Chile and Argentina are cleared in the winter of the southern hemisphere, the animals migrate from there over different distances to the north. Odd guests have been found several times on the islands in the eastern Atlantic and in western Europe.
Existence and endangerment
The great spotted falcon is by far the most common and widespread falcon in America. The population of North America was estimated at 1.2 million breeding pairs in the 1990s, Ferguson-Lees and Christie estimate the world population at at least 1.5 million breeding pairs and at least 4 million individuals. Towards the end of the 20th century, the population in the eastern half of the USA was partially declining, but according to the IUCN the species is not endangered worldwide.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2001, p. 274.
- ^ J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2001, p. 842.
- ^ J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2001, p. 842.
- ^ J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2001, p. 841.
literature
- J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm , London 2001, ISBN 0-7136-8026-1 , pp. 274-276 and 838-842.
Web links
- Falco sparverius in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on December 18 of 2008.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings on Falco sparverius in the Internet Bird Collection
- Feathers of the Common Falcon
