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Falcón

Falcon
Temporal range: Late Miocene to present
Brown-Falcon,-Vic,-3.1.2008.jpg
Brown falcon (Falco berigora)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Subfamily: Falconinae
Genus: Falco
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

About 37; see text.

Synonyms
  • Aesalon
  • Lithofalco
  • Tinnunculus Linnaeus, 1766
  • Hierofalco Cuvier, 1817
  • Cerchneis Boie, 1826
  • Hypotriorchis Boie, 1826
  • Rhynchodon Nitzsch, 1829
  • Ieracidea Gould, 1838
  • Hieracidea Strickland, 1841 (unjustified emendation)
  • Gennaia Kaup, 1847
  • Jerafalco Kaup, 1850 (unjustified emendation)
  • Harpe Bonaparte, 1855 (non Lacepède 1802: preoccupied)
  • Dissodectes Sclater, 1864
  • Genaïe Heuglin, 1867 (unjustified emendation)
  • Harpa Sharpe, 1874 (non Pallas 1774: preoccupied)
  • Gennadas Heine & Reichenow, 1890 (unjustified emendation)
  • Nesierax Oberholser, 1899
  • Nesihierax Dubois, 1902 (unjustified emendation)
  • Asturaetus De Vis, 1906 (non Asturaetos Brehm 1855: preoccupied)
  • Plioaetus Richmond, 1908
  • Sushkinia Tugarinov, 1935 (non Martynov 1930: preoccupied) – see below

About 37; see text.

Falcons (/ˈfɒlkən, ˈfɔːl-, ˈfæl-/) are birds of prey in the genus Falco, which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica.

Adult falcons have thin, tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and change direction rapidly. Fledgling falcons, in their first year of flying, have longer flight feathers, which make their configuration more like that of a general-purpose bird such as a . This makes it easier to fly while learning the exceptional skills required to be effective hunters as adults.

The falcons are the largest genus in the Falconinae subfamily of Falconidae, which itself also includes another subfamily comprising caracaras and a few other species. All these birds kill with their beaks, using a "tooth" on the side of their beaks—unlike the hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey in the Accipitridae, which use their feet.

The largest falcon is the gyrfalcon at up to 65 cm in length. The smallest falcons are the kestrels, of which the Seychelles kestrel measures just 25 cm. As with hawks and owls, falcons exhibit sexual dimorphism, with the females typically larger than the males, thus allowing a wider range of prey species.


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Wikipedia

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