Animalia Life

Falco amurensis
SUBFAMILY
Falconinae
TAXONOMY
Falco vespertinus var. amurensis Radde, 1863, Zeya River, Amurland. Sister species to very similar red-footed falcon F. vespertinus. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Manchurian, Amur, or eastern red-footed falcon; French: Faucon de l’Amour; German: Amurfalke; Spanish: Cernнcalo del Amur.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
11.0–11.8 in (28–30 cm); male 3.4–5.5 oz (95–155 g), female 3.9–6.7 oz (110–190 g). A colorful little falcon with unusual red legs, cere, and eye ring. Male mostly slate gray with contrasting chestnut lower belly, undertail coverts, and thighs. Female very different: upperparts gray; underparts whitish streaked and chevroned with black. Juvenile similar to adult female but with rufous edging to upperparts.
DISTRIBUTION
Breeds in southeast Siberia and from northeast Mongolia to Amurland, south into northern and eastern China and North Korea, occasionally northeast India. Winters in southern Africa, mainly from Malawi to Transvaal.
HABITAT
Breeding grounds: open woodland and woodland (coniferous and deciduous) margins and marshes, likes mature trees and avoids treeless areas. Wintering grounds: savanna and grassland with clumps of trees.
BEHAVIOR
Whole population migrates from eastern Asia to southern Africa, often in large groups, sometimes with other small falcons. Leaves Asia in September, begins arriving in Africa in late November. In Africa, roosts at traditional sites in groups of trees, used by hundreds to thousands of birds. Returns to Asia, departing mainly March, arriving mainly April.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds on insects such as locusts, grasshoppers, and beetles, and on small birds and occasionally amphibians. Hunts, often around dusk, from perch to capture prey in air, less often on ground, sometimes hovers. Outside breeding, gathers in flocks to feed on termite and ant swarms often associated with rain storms.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Nests annually as solitary pair or in small colonies, in old corvid nests or tree holes. Lays in May–June; usually three or four eggs; incubation about 28–30 days; fledges at about one month.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. Thought to be common, at least locally.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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