- Falco chicquera
Identification
- Rufous crown, nape, and moustachial stripe
- Wide yellow eye-ring.
- Pale gray upperparts.
- White underparts with fine barring, sometimes suffused with gray.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia.
In Africa occurs from Senegal and Gambia east to southern Sudan and south-west Ethiopia and south to the Cape but absent from the forests of West and Central Africa and much of Angola.
The Asian range extends from southern Iran and Pakistan to India and Bangladesh.
Common in Asia but uncommon or rare in African range.
Resident
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Three races are recognised[1]:
- F. c. chicquera:
- Iran to India, Nepal and Bangladesh
- F. c. ruficollis:
- Senegambia to Ethiopia, Somalia, Zambia and northern Mozambique
- F. c. horsbrughi:
- Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique to Angola and northern South Africa
Habitat
In Africa occurs in low-lying, often swampy savanna and appears to be tied to palms, particularly Borassus, for nesting although uses the old nests of crows in southern Africa.
Found in dry open country, grassland and cultivated land with scattered trees in Asian range.
Behaviour
A small powerful falcon with fast, direct flight. They often hunt in pairs, chasing birds on the wing, targeting prey from a perch, and often bringing them down quite close to the ground.
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/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Red-necked Falcon. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-necked_Falcon
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
