Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Falconidae is a family of diurnal birds of prey and includes caracaras, laughing falcon, forest falcons, falconets, pygmy falcons, falcons and kestrels.They are small to medium-sized birds of prey, ranging in size from the black-thighed falconet, which can weigh as little as 35 grams (1.2 oz), to the gyrfalcon, which can weigh as much as 1,735 grams (61.2 oz).
Hawking with the American kestrel requires adapting to the strengths and weaknesses of the bird. It is a tiny falcon, and even for its size, it is less muscular than other small falcons such as the athletic and swift merlin. It is more adapted to ambush hunting and short chases than to the longer aerial chases larger falcons often adopt.
The largest falcon is the gyrfalcon at up to 65 cm (26 in) in length. The smallest falcon species is the pygmy falcon, which measures just 20 cm (7.9 in). As with hawks and owls, falcons exhibit sexual dimorphism, with the females typically larger than the males, thus allowing a wider range of prey species. [10]
Adult pygmy falcons are 20 cm (7.9 in) in length and 54 to 76 g (1.9–2.7 oz) in weight. [2] These birds are white-bellied, extending up to the face, with males having grey on their backsides, and females have a chestnut back. There are white "eye spots" on the nape.
The lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean [3] across Afghanistan and Central Asia, to China and Mongolia. It is a summer migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and sometimes even to India and Iraq. It is rare north of its breeding range, and declining in its European range.
The species name subbuteo is from Latin sub, "below, less than, under" and buteo, "buzzard". [7] The species' English name comes from Old French hobé or hobet. [8] It became the trademark for the Subbuteo games company after its creator, who was an ornithologist, was refused permission to register "Hobby". [9] Two subspecies are recognized: [10]
The merlin (Falco columbarius) is a small species of falcon from the Northern Hemisphere, [2] with numerous subspecies throughout North America and Eurasia. A bird of prey, the merlin breeds in the northern Holarctic; some migrate to subtropical and northern tropical regions in winter. Males typically have wingspans of 53–58 centimetres (21 ...
Sooty falcon (F. concolor) of the North African desert; Eleonora's falcon (F. eleonorae) occupies the Mediterranean area during the northern summer, and migrates south to Madagascar for the southern summer. These species are tentatively placed here: New Zealand falcon or karearea (F. novaeseelandiae). Brown falcon (F. berigora) Taita falcon (F ...