Information
Has been known to take Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) (from Birding-aus: Jade Welch (kakamac@hotmail.com), June 8, 2006) and Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa) (from Birding-aus: Grant Cowell (r1200gs@fastmail.net), June 8, 2006) as prey.
Remarks
As an aid to identification in flight the following silhouettes may be of assistance
Food
Birds, such as pigeons, ducks and parrots, small mammals, reptiles and insects. The birds are usually taken in mid-air by a blow with the hind claw struck after a high-speed dive on the victim.
Voice
A harsh, staccato, complaining 'chak-chak-chak-chak', the male being higher-pitched. A high, thin, 'keer-keer-keer' or shrill 'kek-kek-kek-kek', uttered near the nest.
Nest
Usually on a ledge of a horizontal crevice of a precipitous rocky cliff, sometimes in the hollow of a tree or in an old nest of another bird. Nesting sites are used for many years in succession.
Eggs (Guide)
3, sometimes 2 or 4; pale buff with heavy red or red-brown blotches; oval to rounded-oval; about 53 x 40 mm. Incubation: about 28 - 30 days; mainly by female.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 5 - 6 weeks.
Subspecies
Subspecies pelegrinoides often considered separate species, usually incorporating subspecies babylonicus, although latter has, in turn, been considered independent species. Hybrids between pelegrinoides and other forms of this species are interfertile. Kleinschmidt's Falcon named as separate species, Falco kreyenborgi, but is actually colour morph of subspecies cassini.
The following 19 subspecies are recognised:
tundrius White, CM, 1968 - Arctic tundra of North America, from Alaska to Greenland.
anatum Bonaparte, 1838 - North America south of tundra to northern Mexico, except north-western Pacific Coast.
pealei Ridgway, 1874 - Coastal western North America from Washington north to western Alaska, and west through Aleutian and Commander Is; possibly also coastal Kamchatka and Kuril Is.
cassini Sharpe, 1873 - Western South America, from Ecuador (locally) south through Bolivia and northern Argentina to southern Chile, Tierra del Fuego and Falkland Is.
japonensis Gmelin, JF, 1788 - North-eastern Siberia south to Kamchatka and Japan (may not be race of coastal Kamchatka).
furuitii Momiyama, 1927 - Volcano Is and possibly Bonin Is.
calidus Latham, 1790 - Tundra of Eurasia, from Lapland east to north-eastern Siberia, roughly to region of R Yana and R Indigirka.
peregrinus Tunstall, 1771 - Eurasia south of tundra and north of Pyrenees, Balkans and Himalayas, from British Is east to Amurland and Ussuriland in Russian Far East.
brookei Sharpe, 1873 - Southern France, Spain and coastal northern Africa east through Mediterranean to Caucasus.
babylonicus Sclater, PL, 1861 - Asia, from eastern Iran to Mongolia.
pelegrinoides Temminck, 1829 - Canary Is east through inland northern Africa to Iraq, and probably Iran. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Barbary Falcon (Falco pelegrinoides).
madens Ripley & Watson, 1963 - Cape Verde Is. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Cape Verde Peregrine (Falco madens).
minor Bonaparte, 1850 - Africa south of Sahara, and northern into extreme southern Morocco.
radama Hartlaub, 1861 - Madagascar and Comoro Is.
peregrinator Sundevall, 1837 - Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka east to south-eastern China.
ernesti Sharpe, 1894 - Indonesia and Philippines east to New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago.
nesiotes Mayr, 1941 - Vanuatu and New Caledonia (race uncertain) east to Fiji.
macropus Swainson, 1838 - Australia (except south-west).
Similar Species
Australian Hobby (Falco longipennis), Grey Falcon (Falco hypoleucos) and juveniles with Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) which has a double cheek-stripe, longer legs, longer and more rounded wings and tail.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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