- Falco subniger
Identification
Male 45 cm (17¾ in), female 56 cm (22 in)
Similar Species
Black Falcon does not show banding in tail or wings, and does not show moustachial stripes in the head (these are all differences from Brown Falcon). Older birds can have some white in the head, but are otherwise black to dark brown.
Distribution
Australia: occurs in the interior of all mainland states, absent from coastal areas of the west, north and east and from Tasmania. Uncommon over most of range.
Resident and nomadic.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Open woodland and forest edge, plains, grasslands and farmland with scattered trees.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of mammals, such as rabbits and rats, large insects, rarely going for reptiles. They also take birds.
Breeding
They utilise large stick nests previously used by other raptors.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Apr 2018)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Black Falcon. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Falcon
External Links
Use Falco subniger to
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
Use Black Falcon to
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
