9/12/2023 0 Comments Aplomado falcon![]() ![]() BehaviorĪplomado falcons are predatory and feed on birds, insects, rodents, small snakes, and lizards. femoralis -are found south of Central America and can be distinguished from the northern aplomado falcon by different dimensions, by the configuration of the abdominal bands, and by the relative darkness of their plumage. This is intermediate in size between the American kestrel and peregrine falcon. The northern aplomado is the largest of the three, displaying a body length from 14.9-16.5 in (38-42 cm) and a wingspan from 40-48 in (102-122 cm). The aplomado falcon ( Falco femoralis ) has been divided into three subspecies. Feet are bright yellow and the sexes are similar, with males noticeably smaller than females. The lower breast sports a broad, blackish band or cummerbund with small, whitish crossbars. The northern aplomado falcon is a distinctive bird of prey dull red underparts, a gray back, a long and banded tail, and a striking black and white facial pattern distinguish adults. Raptor with boldly marked head, gray back, and long, banded tail.īirds, insects, rodents, other small animals. The Aplomado Falcon’s habitat is arid grasslands, savannahs, and marshes.Northern Aplomado Falcon Falco femoralis septentrionalis Status It may be returning naturally to southern New Mexico, as it has been seen there every year from 2000 to 2005 and bred successfully in 2002. Until the 1950s it was found in the extreme southwestern United States, and reintroduction efforts are under way in West Texas. It ranges from northern Mexico and Trinidad locally to southern South America, but has been extirpated from much of its range, including northern and central Mexico except for a small area of Chihuahua. In Brazil, Aplomado Falcons have been observed following Maned Wolves and chasing birds that the wolves flush (Silveira et al. It also hunts at fields being burned, at which many birds of this species may gather. It feeds on insects and small vertebrates, especially birds, and is often seen soaring at twilight hunting insects and eating them on the wing. It may be confused with the Bat Falcon and the Orange-breasted Falcon, which have similar white-black-rust patterns below, but those species are built more like Peregrines and have solidly blackish heads and darker rufous bellies. Juvenile birds are very similar, but their upperparts and belly band are blackish brown, the chest is streaked with black, the white on the head and breast is buffy, and the cinnamon on the underparts is paler. The tail is black with narrow white or gray bars. The upper breast continues the white of the throat there are black patches on each side of the lower breast that meet in the middle the belly and thighs, below the black patches, are light cinnamon. In adult birds, the upperparts are dark blue-gray, as is much of the head, with the usual falcon “moustache” contrasting sharply with the white throat and eyestripe. This resemblance in shape to the hobbies accounts for the former name Orange-chested Hobby. It is very slender, long-winged, and long-tailed, the size of a small Peregrine Falcon (length of 30–40 cm or 12–16 inches, average wingspan of about 90 cm or 36 in) but only half the weight (250–475 g or 9–17 oz). “Aplomado” is an unusual Spanish word for “lead-colored”, referring to the blue-gray areas of the plumage. Spanish names for the species include Halcón fajado and Halcón aplomado. The Aplomado Falcon, Falco femoralis, is a medium-sized falcon of the Americas. ![]()
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