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In early English falconry literature, the word "falcon" referred to a female peregrine falcon only, while the word "hawk" or "hawke" referred to a female hawk. A male hawk or falcon was referred to as a "tiercel" (sometimes spelled "tercel"), as it was roughly one-third less than the female in size.
The female kestrel is larger than the male, though less so than larger falcons, being typically about 10% to 15% larger within a subspecies. The more northern subspecies tend to larger sizes (northern hemisphere), with a large northern female being about twice the size of a small southern male.
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]
Watch this informative video to learn the difference between falcons and hawks and why they are two of the skies most fearsome predators. The practice of keeping and training any bird of prey is ...
Hawks are known for their unique mating season and means of reproduction. Some species of hawk are monogamous and have one partner their whole lives. The male and female of a mating pair build their nest before mating season then improve it throughout nesting season. They usually do this before mating. [20] Hawks have a striking mating ritual.
The females is noticeably larger, with the adult male weighing 136–252 g (4 + 3 ⁄ 4 – 8 + 7 ⁄ 8 oz), around 155 g (5 + 1 ⁄ 2 oz) on average; the adult female weighs 154–314 g (5 + 3 ⁄ 8 – 11 + 1 ⁄ 8 oz), around 184 g (6 + 1 ⁄ 2 oz) on average. They are thus small compared with other birds of prey, but larger than most songbirds.
The female and immature are brownish-gray to dark brown above, and whitish buff spotted with brown below. Besides a weak whitish supercilium and the faint dark malar stripe—which are barely recognizable in both the palest and the darkest birds—the face of the merlin is less strongly patterned than in most other falcons.
Male (left) and female (right) red-footed falcons Birds of prey (raptors) are known to display patterns of sexual dimorphism . It is commonly believed that the dimorphisms found in raptors occur due to sexual selection or environmental factors.