Africa Wild Bird Book

[Toko]

180. Amur Falcon (formerly known as Eastern Red-footed Kestrel) Falco amurensis (Oostelike rooipootvalk)
Order: Falconiformes. Family: Falconidae

Amur Falcon Falco amurensis.jpg (51.38 KiB) Viewed 1913 times

Description
Length 28-30 cm, weight 97-188 g; females larger than males. Cere, eye-ring and legs are red. Interestingly, the Amur falcon is one of only a few birds of prey to have white claws.
The male is largely dark grey, with a chestnut lower belly and thighs, and a white underwing, visible in flight. The dark plumage contrasts with the bright orange-red legs and facial skin, and the orange base to the beak.
The female has cream or orange underparts, with dark streaks and bars, grey upperparts with a slaty-coloured head and cream forehead, and bars and spots on the wings and tail, which have broad, dark tips. The cheeks and throat are plain white, and the face bears a dark eye patch and ‘moustache’.
The juvenile resembles the female, but may be paler, with reddish-brown or buff edges to the feathers.
Similar species: Juveniles and females resemble the Eurasian Hobby, but have a small white patch on the forehead, a pale grey crown and paler underwing coverts. Female differs from female Red-footed Falcon in having roufous crown, nape and underparts.

Distribution
Its breeding grounds stretch across eastern Asia, heading south in the non-breeding season to south-western Zambia and southern Africa. Here it is locally common in patches of Zimbabwe, northern Mozambique, Botswana and the eastern half of South Africa, while scarce in northern Namibia.



Habitat
It generally prefers open, moist grassland, savanna and croplands, although it often roosts in trees in city centres.

Movements and migrations
Palearctic breeding migrant, undertaking a roughly 11 000 km long trip, departing from its Asian breeding grounds from August-September, first arriving in southern Africa in November (later towards the south of its distribution) and leaving in the period from April-May.

Diet
It almost exclusively eats arthropods, caught either from a perch or by hovering and repeatedly diving into a large swarm of prey (such as a termite alate emergence).

Breeding
It nests in a hole in a tree or nest in deserted or new nests of magpies, crows, and raptors in trees. Clutch size is 2-6 eggs, which are white with dense brown and reddish-brown markings. Females perform the incubation duties, and the male captures and delivers prey to the female and the nestlings. The nestling period is 27-29 days. During the post-fledging period, the young and adults perch together on poles and trees in open areas, where they hunt small voles and large insects.

Call
Generally silent; gives high-pitched kew-kew-kew at communal roosts. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common summer visitor.

[Toko]

180. Amur Falcon (formerly known as Eastern Red-footed Kestrel) Falco amurensis (Oostelike rooipootvalk)
Order: Falconiformes. Family: Falconidae

© Amoli
Male

© lowveldboy
Male

© Pumbaa
Female

© lowveldboy
Female

© Duke
Female

© Duke
Female

© Joan
Female

© Duke

© leachy

© leachy

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/180.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/Speci ... pecID=8225
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-amur-falcon.html

[Toko]

177. Eleonora's Falcon Falco eleonorae (Eleonoravalk)
Order: Falconiformes. Family: Falconidae

Falco eleonorae.jpg (44.73 KiB) Viewed 1885 times

Description
36-42 cm. The species occurs in two different colour morphs, a light and a dark form. Around 30 percent belong to the dark form.
The less common dark form is dark brown to slate black all over, often with a cream throat, and sometimes a reddish tinge on the lower underparts. Faint grey to buff bars can be seen on the tail at a close distance. Sexes alike, except cere: yellow in males, blue in females.
The light form is dark only on the back, with white or cream cheeks and throat, a dark ‘moustache’ stripe on the face, and buff underparts, which become more reddish lower down, with black streaks. The vent is usually plain, and the greyish tail may have reddish-brown bars, with a dark tip. The degree of streaking, and of shading from buff to reddish-brown on the belly, varies between individuals.
In both forms, the female also has pale blue facial skin, rather than lemon yellow as in the male.
All juveniles have ochre feather tips, but 2 percent have an overall dark appearance like the adult form, whilst 28 percent only become dark at the first moult, when one year old. So, 98 percent of juveniles resemble the light form of the adult, but are browner and paler, with barring on the underwing, and more distinct bars on the flight feathers and tail feathers.
Similar species: The pale form is distinguished from juvenile Peregrine Falcon by its heavily streaked rufous underparts, longer wings and tail. It differs from Eurasian Hobby by its larger size, the rufous underparts and the dark underwing.
The dark form can be confused with Sooty Falcon, but is larger, darker and has a longer tail, darker underwing coverts and greenish (not chrome yellow) legs and feet.
Juvenile is told from juvenile Peregrine Falcon by having a rufous wash and darker underwing.

Distribution
Breeds in the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Canary Island to Cyprus, heading south in the breeding season to Madagascar and north-eastern Africa. It is a vagrant to southern Africa, with records in north-western and eastern Zimbabwe, coastal Mozambique, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Habitat
It generally prefers moist, forested or well-wooded areas, even if they are partially cleared for agriculture.

Diet
Normally, they eat flying insects, such as dragonflies and locusts. When small migrating birds pass through the area, the falcons switch to hunting these and use this sudden abundance of food to feed their chicks.

Breeding
Eleonora’s Falcon breeds later in the year than almost any other northern hemisphere bird, a behaviour that is linked to the species’ other unusual feature, its seasonal switch in diet. For most of the year, Eleonora’s falcon feeds mainly on large flying insects, such as butterflies, beetles, locusts, dragonflies, and winged ants and termites, with prey usually caught and eaten in flight. During the breeding season the diet switches to small migrant birds, passing on the autumn migration from Europe to Africa. Breeding late in the year allows Eleonora’s Falcon to raise its young on this seasonal glut of food. Birds are caught in the air, with hunting usually taking place over the sea, where a number of falcons may fly into a headwind, so remaining almost on the spot and forming a ‘barrier’ to intercept passing prey.
Eleonora’s Falcon arrives in its breeding areas in late April to May, and typically nests in colonies of around 10 to 300 breeding pairs. The nest is located in a hole or ledge on a cliff, or on the ground, under a bush or crevice. Between one and four eggs are laid, between July and August, and hatch after an incubation period of 28 to 30 days. The female performs most of the incubation and guards the nestlings during the first few weeks, while the male carries out most of the hunting, bringing food back to the nest. Fledging occurs after around 37 to 40 days, the young Eleonora’s falcons leaving the colony around two weeks later, and beginning to breed when about two to three years old. Eleonora’s Falcon leaves its breeding areas from October to early November, its arrival in the winter quarters then coinciding with the rainy season, when insect prey is abundant.

Status
Rare vagrant during late summer. Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and listed on Appendix II of CITES.

[Toko]

177. Eleonora's Falcon Falco eleonorae


Pale morph


Dark morph

Links:
Oiseaux net
William S. Clark. A field guide to the raptors of Europe, The MIddle East and North Africa
Harmut Walter. Eleonora's Falcon: Adaptations to Prey and Habitat in a Social Raptor

[Dewi]

173. Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo (Europese boomvalk)
Order: Falconiformes. Family: Falconidae

Eurasian Hobby.jpg (25.06 KiB) Viewed 1878 times

Description
Length: 28-36 cm. Wingspan: 69-84 cm. Male weight: 131-232 g. Female weight: 141-340 g. The Eurasian Hobby is a small, slender falcon with a relatively long, square tail, and long, scythe-like wings, giving it the appearance of a large swift in flight.
Adults are slate-grey above with a dark crown and 2 short black moustachial stripes. There is a short, thin white streak above the eye. The legs and facial skin are yellow. The throat is unstreaked white, thighs and undertail coverts are unstreaked rufous and rest of the underparts are whitish with black streaks (African Hobby has rufous underparts). Close views enable the red 'trousers' and vent to be seen and barred underwings and undertail. Sexes are similar.
Juvenile lacks the rufous vent and leggins of the adult. It can be distinguished by the browner, more mottled plumage, buff rather than chestnut thighs and vent, and bluish-grey to greenish legs and facial skin.
Similar species: Female and juvenile Amur Falcon resemble Eurasian Hobby, but have a small white forehead patch, a pale grey crown and paler underwing coverts. Eurasian Hobby is larger, darker-backed and more heavily striked in front. African Hobby resembles Eurasian Hobby but is smaller and has an unstreaked, rufous breast and underparts.

Distribution
It breeds in Eurasia and north-western Africa, heading south in the non-breeding season to southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, absent from the lowland forest of the DRC and surrounding west African countries. Within southern Africa it is scarce to fairly common in northern Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, northern and central Mozambique and eastern and southern South Africa.



Habitat
It generally prefers open moist woodland and forest edges, sometimes moving into more open habitats to forage, such as coastal dunes and maccia-covered slopes, also occupying suburban areas.

Movements and migrations
Palearctic breeding migrant, leaving its breeding grounds from August-October; it is an uncommon visitor to southern Africa, staying from October-April.

Diet
Mostly termites which it hawks on the wing; also small birds like swallows; very occasionally mammals.

Breeding
It does not normally breed until in third calender year; birds appearing on migration hotspots late in spring migration are assumed to be non-breeding birds in their second calender year. 2-3 eggs are laid, rarely 4. Incubation for about 31 days, followed by about 30 days before the young can leave the nest. About one week later, they can start catching insects on their own, but they will continue to receive small birds from especially the father until migration is initiated. It seems that juveniles and adults leave the nesting area individually, so food supplementation does not continue during migration.

Status
Uncommon summer visitor. Non-breading Palearctic migrant, present October-April. Found singly, occasionally in small groups.

[Dewi]

173. Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo



© Sharifa

© nan
Switzerland

© Toko

Links:
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/173.pdf
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Global Raptor Information Network
ARKive: http://www.arkive.org/eurasian-hobby/falco-subbuteo/
European Raptors
Migration of an adult Hobby tracked by satellite

[nan]

172. Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus (Edelvalk)
Order: Falconiformes. Family: Falconidae

Lanner Falcon.jpg (47.36 KiB) Viewed 1887 times

Desciption
Size 38-45 cm. The largest falcon in the region, identified at all ages by whitish or pale buff underparts and russet crown. It has grey-brown to slaty upperparts, a creamy-white throat and underparts, sometimes with dark spots or striping, and a characteristic reddish-brown crown and forehead. The white cheeks contrast with dark eye stripes and a long, dark moustache below the eye, and the eye ring is bright yellow, iris dark. The beak is greyish blue. It has a long, barred tail and long, relatively blunt-ended wings that are dark at the tips. Feathered legs and yellow talons.
The female lanner falcon is usually larger, darker and more patterned than the male.
Juveniles are much browner in colour, with heavily streaked underparts, pale blue-grey facial skin, and a duller crown.
Similar species: The rufous forehead and crown and pinkish, unmarked underparts distinguish this species from Peregrine Falcon. It also has broader, more rounded wings, a longer tail and a floppier, less dynamic flight action than Peregrine Falcon. Juvenile is much paler than juvenile Peregrine Falcon with less streaking on the underparts and a pale creamy of rufous crown.

Distribution
Occurs in southern and south-eastern Europe, the Middle East, south-western Asia and much of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the lowland forests of the DRC and West Africa. In southern Africa it is fairly common.



Habitat
A wide range of habitats, from mountainous terrain to deserts and open grassland. Avoids forests.

Movements and migrations
Partial migrant in southern Africa, as many juveniles depart from their breeding grounds around December-January in the eastern grasslands of South Africa, heading west and south-west to the Kalahari, Karoo and the Western Cape.

Diet
It eats mainly birds, especially doves, pigeons and chickens, hunting using extreme speed to surprise its prey. It often hunts from a high perch or while soaring high up in the air, making a steep and rapid dive to intercept a bird either aerially or on the ground. It often hunts in pairs, enabling them to catch large or highly illusive prey. The female acts like a beater and hunts out victims while the male remains a bit behind, ready to swoop down on the prey. This technique, rather unusual amongst birds of prey.

Breeding
Monogamous. A solitary nester, the nest is typically a simple scrape in sand or soil on a cliff ledge or is placed in another structure such as a building. It may also use the stick nest of other birds. The egg-laying season is from late May to early September in Southern Africa and the female lays between 1 to 5 eggs, which are incubated mainly by the female for about 32 days. The chicks are brooded constantly by the female for the first few days, after which they are brooded intermittently for about 1-2 weeks. The young eventually leave the nest after about 45 days, becoming fully independent between 1 to 3 months later.

Call
Wailing weeah-weeah and other piercing notes, such as a harsh kak-kak-kak-kak-kak. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common to scarce resident. With both resident and migratory populations. Found singly or in pairs. Least concern - Near threatened in South Africa, due to local extinctions possibly caused by a vulnerability to agrochemicals. It has however benefited from the clearing of savanna and the increasing availability of free-range poultry.

[nan]

172. Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus
Order: Falconiformes. Family: Falconidae





© Mel

© Mel

© Michele Nel

© Dewi

© Sharifa & Duke

© nan
Juvenile, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Feb 2017 around Urikaruus

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/172.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/Speci ... pecID=8229
http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/lanner.falcon.html

[Michele Nel]

171. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus (Swerfvalk)
Order: Falconiformes. Family: Falconidae

Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus.jpg (59.44 KiB) Viewed 1925 times

Description
A medium-small powerfully built falcon with dark upperparts and white chest with fine, rufous bars. Sexes are similar, but the female is up to 30% larger than the male.
The back and the long pointed wings of the adult are usually bluish black to slate grey with indistinct darker barring and the wingtips are black. The white to rusty underparts are barred with thin clean bands of dark brown or black. Its long wings nearly reach the tip of the tail. The tail, coloured like the back but with thin clean bars, is long, narrow, and rounded at the end with a black tip and a white band at the very end. The top of the head and a 'moustache' along the cheeks are black, contrasting sharply with the pale sides of the neck and white throat. The cere is yellow, as are the feet, and the beak is black. The upper beak is notched near the tip, an adaptation which enables falcons to kill prey by severing the spinal column at the neck.
Resident birds have closely barred underparts, visiting birds are whiter, lightly spotted.
Juvenile is much browner with streaked, rather than barred, underparts, and has a pale bluish cere and orbital ring. It has extensive pale markings on the nape and forehead, but the crown is always dark.
Similar species: The black crown, heavy black moustachials (brown in immatures) and finely barred belly of the Peregrine Falcon distinguish it from the similar Lanner Falcon.

Distribution
The Peregrine Falcon can be found in every continent of the world excluding Antarctica, with some sub-species that are resident and with others that are migratory. There are 19 Peregrine subspecies worldwide. Two races of this cosmopolitan species occur in the region: F. p. minor is a scarce but widely distributed breeding resident and F. p. calidus is a rare nonbreeding summer migrant from the Palearctic. Migrant birds have been collected as far south as Port Elizabeth, and a calidus bird was recorded close to Cape Town. The Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus minor is sparsely and patchily distributed throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. In southern Africa it is generally uncommon and localised in Namibia, northern and eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, western Mozambique and South Africa. Known areas of relatively high abundance of resident birds include parts of Zimbabwe, the Waterberg Plateau in Namibia, the Transvaal escarpment, the southwestern Cape Province and the lower Orange River.

Habitat
Riverine, mountainous or coastal environments, especially with high cliffs, used for roosting and hunting.

Movements and migrations
Most of the southern African population (the subspecies Falco peregrinus minor) is resident and sedentary, however the migrant Falco peregrinus calidus may also be present in the region in the period from October-March, and can often be found in more open habitats than its resident counterpart.

Diet
They feed almost exclusively on medium-sized birds such as feral pigeons, wild pigeons, doves and waterfowl. Powerful and fast-flying, they catch prey in the air with swift, spectacular dives, called stoops. They often sit on high perches, waiting for the right opportunity to make their aerial assault. The Peregrine Falcon hunts at dawn and dusk, when prey is most active, but also nocturnally in cities.
The Peregrine Falcon is well known for its mid-air attacking of other birds, in which it will climb to a great height and dive to grab the other bird with its claws. During these dives, the bird can reach a speed of 300km/hr, making it the fastest animal on Earth.

Breeding
Monogamous solitary nester, with pairs sometimes remaining together for as long as 11 years, both performing spectacular aerial displays in the run-up to the breeding season. Peregrine Falcons nest on cliffs, tall buildings or tall structures. Males select a few possible nest ledges at the beginning of each season and the female chooses from these. The birds do no nest building. The nest is typically a simple scrape in a sheltered ledge or cavity in a cliff or quarry face; it may alternatively use a stick nest on a cliff of another bird, such a Verreaux's eagle or White-necked raven. Breeding season is from late July to early November. It lays 1 to 4 eggs, which are mainly incubated by the female for between 32 to 36 days, while the male occasionally incubates in the day but is mostly focused on providing the female with food. The young are fed mainly by the male and they take first flight at between 42 to 46 days.

Call
Alarm call a loud series of harsh raucous kak-kak-kak-kak-kak, also whining and chopping notes. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Scarce or rare resident and summer visitor. Not threatened globally but Near-threatened in South Africa, probably due to a combination of persecution in city centres, susceptibility to agrochemicals, nest site disturbance, deforestation and river impoundment.

[Michele Nel]

171. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus (Swerfvalk)











Links:
Species text Sabap1: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/171.pdf
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Jenkins, A. 2010. Cliff hangers: a Peregrine diary. Africa - Birds & Birding 15(2):34-43.
Global Raptor Information Network
Oiseaux net: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-peregrine-falcon.html