Lanner falcon
| Lanner falcon | ||||||||||||
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A Lanner falcon |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Falco biarmicus | ||||||||||||
| Temminck , 1825 |
The Lanner or Lanner Falcon ( Falco biarmicus ) lives in Africa , the Arabian Peninsula, in Asia Minor, as well as in Italy and in the Balkans . It can only be found as a very rare guest bird in Central Europe . The individuals observed in Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Poland are all considered as refugees in captivity . There is only recognized evidence of wild birds for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. An earlier German name was also Feldeggsfalke.
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description
The Lanner can be distinguished from the peregrine falcon by its slimmer shape and tail, as well as its lower wing flapping frequency. It has a wingspan of 100 cm (males) to 110 cm (females).
The Lanner prefers open terrain such as stone and semi-deserts, followed by steep rocky mountains. The falcon's breeding grounds are located in the high rock massifs. It lives less often on coastal rocks.
The partners of a Lanner couple often hunt together in a company hunt, especially when they are reared. They scare away their prey and take turns trying to hit it. Their menu includes birds such as jackdaws , red kestrel or kestrel , rock pigeons and stone fowls that are grabbed in the air. Rabbits , rats , lizards and beetles are only captured on the ground in desert areas that are very poor in food .
From March the female lays 3–4 eggs. In 32–35 days, the eggs are hatched by the female while the male provides food. The partners of a couple stay together all year round and do not leave their territory. The cubs, on the other hand, roam around until they mate and at some point have found their own territory.
Breeding grounds
Lanner falcons breed on rocks, trees, on the ground and on structures, but mainly on rocks or occasionally in quarries. The proportion of rock fry is different for the various subspecies: The subspecies feldeggii, which breeds in Europe, breeds almost exclusively in rocks, for the subspecies biarmicus in South Africa it is 72% in the Eastern Cape Province and only 57% in the Transvaal . The falcons also breed in the nests of other bird species in trees and on overhead line pylons ; in the Sahara , broods have even been documented on the ground. Human structures are also used as breeding grounds; a nest on the Mykerinos pyramid was first described as early as 1864 . Further broods at other pyramids and other historical buildings in different countries are known as breeding grounds. They also breed in cities in Africa such as Cairo , Ouagadougou , Addis Ababa , Bulawayo , Chitungwiza , Harare , Pretoria , Johannesburg, and Durban . Broods also occur in modern buildings, in Harare there were broods in a nest box on the twelfth floor of a high-rise building .
The nests used by the Lanner falcon are mostly built by various crows or birds of prey, but broods in the nests of other bird species have also been detected. In Europe, the Lanneralken the subspecies breed feldeggii often in nests of ravens , rare in nests of vultures , buzzard , Bonelli's eagles and golden eagles . In north-west Africa, the lanneralks of the Erlangeri subspecies often nest in the nests of the common raven and the desert raven . The subspecies tanypterus rare breeds in Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa in nests of black kite and the subspecies abyssinicus rare in sub-Saharan nests of pied crow . The subspecies biarmicus in southern Africa to Kenya often breeds in the nests of vulture ravens and coffee eagles , and much less often in the nests of tortoiseshell, monochrome short-toed eagles , black storks and jugglers .
Duration
In the 19th century, the Lanner falcon suffered heavy loss of area and it disappeared in both Spain and France. The reasons for this loss of area are not sufficiently understood; climatic causes probably play just as important a role as persecution. The population was stable in the first half of the 20th century, but then fell sharply from the 1950s onwards. In addition to shooting, trading in this species also plays a role.
The IUCN estimates the total population at 100,000 to 1 million animals and the trend is increasing. The species is therefore considered "not endangered". The European breeding population is only 480 to 900 breeding pairs. About 300 to 600 breeding pairs of these occur in Turkey. About 100 to 140 breeding pairs breed in Italy.
Internal system
A total of five subspecies are distinguished in the Lanner falcon:
- F. b. feldeggii : Italy, Balkans, Asia Minor.
- F. b. tanypterus : Middle East, Northeast Africa.
- F. b. Erlangeri : North West Africa.
- F. b. abyssinicus : south of the Sahara to north of Congo and Kenya
- F. b. biarmicus : Southern Africa from Kenya
supporting documents
literature
- Theodor Mebs : Birds of prey in Europe. Biology. Existing conditions. Existence risk. Kosmos nature guide. Stuttgart, 1989.
- Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel and Wolfgang Fiedler (eds.): The compendium of birds in Central Europe: Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Volume 1: Nonpasseriformes - non-sparrow birds. Aula-Verlag Wiebelsheim, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-89104-647-2 .
- Giovanni Leonardi: The Lanner falcon . Catania 2015.
Web links
- Falco biarmicus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 31 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings about Falco biarmicus in the Internet Bird Collection
- Lanner falcon feathers