The Lanner Falcon is a large bird of prey that breeds in Africa, southeast Europe and just into Asia.
It is a large falcon, at 43–50 cm length with a wingspan of 95-105 cm.
The Lanner Falcon is a bird of open country and savanna.
It usually hunts by horizontal pursuit, rather than
the Peregrine's stoop from a height, and takes mainly bird prey in flight.
It lays 3-4 eggs on a cliff ledge nest, or occasionally in an old stick nest in a tree.
Lanner Falcon males are called lannerets in falconry, where the species
is sometimes used as a 'first falcon' by less-experienced falconers.
Displaying a good nature sometimes lacking in more highly
powered birds, what Lanners lack
in hunting prowess they more than make up for in personality.
Outstandingly maneuverable, they use their large tails and
relatively low wing loading to perform exceptionally to the lure and can
take a range of small birds as prey.
One of the few raptors to attack prey head on at times
their tactics of ambush and surprise make them entertaining birds for crowds to enjoy.
They are bred in captivity for falconry; hybrids with the Peregrine Falcon ("perilanners") are also often seen.
Merret (1666) claimed that the "lanar" lived in Sherwood Forest and the Forest of Dean in England; such populations would seem
to derive from escaped hunting birds of the nobility.
In the wild Lanner Falcon numbers are somewhat declining
in Europe, though the species remains relatively common in parts of Africa.
