Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus) (Linnaeus,1766) Μαυροκιρκίνεζο - Μαυροφάλκονο - Cyprus

See also Cyprus birds of prey - Αρπαχτικά πουλιά της Κύπρου

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 ismigratory, 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.

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 moustaches.

Young birds are brown above and buff below with dark streaks, and a face pattern like the female. Red-footed falcons are 28–34 cm (11–13 in) in length with a wingspan of 65–75 cm (26–30 in). The average mass is 155 g (5.5 oz)

This falcon is a colonial breeder, reusing the old nests of corvids, such as rooks. It lays two to four eggs. Its maximum lifespan is 13.25 years in the wild and 18 years in captivity

The red-footed falcon tends to reside in typical steppe type habitats ranging from Eastern Europe to Lake Baikal in Central Asia. This is a diurnal bird of open country with some trees, often near water. They tend to migrate far south for the winter, including in areas of Africa. The red-footed falcon tends not to make their own nests, but tend to use abandoned nests made by other birds such as the hooded crow, rook, and magpie. The nests that are chosen tend to be higher than the majority of the other nests; the nests tend to be 13–20 m (43–66 ft) above the ground and within 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft) of the tree top. Most of these nests tend to be near the edge of woods, avoiding nesting on solitary trees. Breeding takes place in these abandoned nests; usually breeding occurs colonially in rookeries because these birds tend to stay together in groups. This is also important because fledging success tends to be higher when these birds are in colonies and are not solitary. The red-footed falcon relies on the nests built by rooks, and with a decline in population of rooks, the number of suitable rookeries for colonial nesting has also decreased, leading humans to ideas of conservation.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Potamia by George Konstantinou

List of Cyprus birds of prey on this blog - Λίστα Αρπαχτικών πουλιών της Κύπρου σε αυτό το ιστολόγιο