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Red-footed Falcon

Red-footed Falcon

Falco vespertinus

Identify the Red-footed Falcon by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Red-footed Falcon is a small, long-winged falcon that breeds from eastern Europe into Central Asia and winters in southern Africa. It has declined in parts of its range because of habitat loss and persecution. Males are mostly dark blue-grey with red legs and undertail, while females have an orange head and underparts. It often breeds in colonies, reusing old Rook nests, and regularly wanders to western Europe.

Did you know?

  • Its species name vespertinus means “of the evening” in Latin, after its habit of hunting at dusk.
  • The Amur Falcon was once treated as its subspecies but is now a separate species.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

Shaped like other small falcons such as Hobby, with fairly long wings and a long tail. The adult male is dark grey all over, with dark red legs and vent; the upper primaries can look paler, silvery grey. The female is clearly orange below and brown-grey above, with a dark mask around the eye and a pale crown. The young bird resembles a Hobby but has barred tail feathers, a pale crown and nape, a different face pattern and browner upperparts.

Family

Falconidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

grey, red, orange, black

About the habitat

Open landscapes – natural grassland, steppe and farmland with scattered trees, often near rookeries; in winter open savanna in southern Africa.

Diet

Mainly large insects such as beetles, grasshoppers and dragonflies, caught in flight or on the ground; also small vertebrates. During breeding the male often feeds the female.

Behaviour

A sociable, migratory falcon that often hunts at dusk, hovering or hawking insects, and gathers in flocks on migration. It usually breeds in colonies, reusing old nests of Rooks or other crows and laying 2–4 eggs; courtship feeding by the male is frequent.

Sources

Photo: Martin Mecnarowski (http://www.photomecan.eu/), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Falco vespertinus 2 (Martin Mecnarowski).jpg

Sound: Bubulcus, CC BY 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Falco_vespertinus.ogg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-footed_falcon

See also