Monday, November 2, 2009

Falco amurensis


The Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis), formerly Eastern Red-footed Falcon
is a small raptor of the falcon family.
It breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China, wintering in Southern Africa.
Males are characteristically dark sooty brown, and may offer confusion with melanistic Gabar Goshawk, but the chestnut on the vent should prevent confusion here.
Also there may be some superficial resemblance to Sooty Falcon and Grey Kestrel, but those two species both have yellow feet and cere.
Separating male Amur and Red-footed Falcons is best done
by the white underwing coverts on Amur Falcon, whereas the underwing of male Red-footed Falcons is uniformly grey.
Females may offer a bit more confusion with a wider range of falcons as they have a typical falcon head pattern.
The grey on the top of the head should quickly rule out confusion with Red-footed Falcons. The female has barring on the lower belly. Red cere and feet rule out all other falcons.

Falco vespertinus


The Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus), formerly Western Red-footed Falcon
is a bird of prey. It belongs to the family Falconidae, the falcons.
This bird is found in eastern Europe and Asia although its numbers are dwindling rapidly due to habitat loss and hunting. It is migratory, wintering in Africa.
It is a regular wanderer to western Europe, and in August 2004 a Red-footed Falcon
was found in North America for the first time on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The Amur Falcon was formerly included herein as a subspecies but it is nowadays considered well distinct. Nonetheless, it is the present species' closest relative; their relationship to other falcons is more enigmatic.
They appear morphologically somewhat intermediate between kestrels and hobbies and DNA sequence data has been unable to further resolve this question, mainly due to lack of comprehensive sampling.
They might be closer to the Merlin than to most other living falcons, or more generally related to this species and American falcons such as the American Kestrel and the Aplomado Falcon.
It is a medium-small, long-winged species.
The adult male is all blue-grey, except for his red undertail and legs; its underwings are uniformly grey.
The female has a grey back and wings, orange head and underparts
and a white face with black eye stripe and
source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Falco chicquera


The Red-necked Falcon or Red-headed Merlin (Falco chicquera) is a bird of prey in the falcon family.
This bird is a widespread resident in India and
adjacent regions as well as sub-Saharan Africa. It is sometimes called Turumti locally.
The Red-necked Falcon is a medium-sized, long-winged species with a bright rufous crown and nape. It is on average 30–36 cm in length with a wingspan of 85 cm.
The sexes are similar except in size: males are smaller as females as
is usual in falcons. Young birds are buff below
with less extensive barring and duller upper plumage.
The adult of the African subspecies Falco chicquera ruficollis has a white face apart from black moustachial stripes.
The upperparts are pale grey, with black primary wing feathers and tail tip.
The underparts are white with dark barring on the underwings, lower breast, belly and undertail. There is a buff foreneck band. The legs and eyering are yellow.
The voice of this species is a shrill kek-kek-kek.
West African males are known to weigh between 139 and 178 grams, while females are found between 190 and 305 grams.
The particularly large African birds from south of the Zambezi River are often separated as subspecies Falco chicquera horsbrughi
but the size variation may be clinal and the latter subspecies not valid.
The Asian nominate subspecies Falco chicquera chicquera has rufous moustachial stripes, lacks the buff breast band, and is less extensively barred than the African subspecies.
source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Falco zoniventris


The Banded Kestrel (Falco zoniventris) is a bird of prey belonging to the falcon family Falconidae.
It is endemic to Madagascar and is also known as
the Madagascar Banded Kestrel, Barred Kestrel or
Madagascar Barred Kestrel. Its closest relatives are the
Grey Kestrel and Dickinson's Kestrel of mainland
Africa and the three are sometimes placed in the subgenus Dissodectes.
The species has a shrill, staccato, chattering call and a sharp, screaming
call but is usually silent outside the breeding season.
It is fairly common in the southern and western parts of Madagascar but more local in the north and east and absent from the central plateau.
It occurs from sea-level up to 2000 metres.
It inhabits clearings and edges in forest and woodland.
It rarely hovers, preferring to hunt from a perch.
It feeds on small reptiles such as chamaeleons and
day geckos, large insects such as grasshoppers and beetles and occasionally on birds.
Prey is caught on the ground or snatched from a branch or tree trunk.
Breeding takes place from September to December.
The nest is a simple scrape, usually in the old nest of another bird, especially the Sickle-billed Vanga. The nest is located in a tree hole or amongst epiphytic growth.
Three yellowish eggs are laid.
It is 27–30 cm long with a wingspan of 60–68 cm.
The upperparts are grey and the tail is dark.
The underparts are whitish with dark grey streaks on
the throat and upper breast and dark grey barring on the lower breast and belly.
The feet, eyes and cere are yellow and there is bare yellow skin around the eye. Juvenile birds are browner than the adults with darker eyes and less bare skin around the eye.
source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/