Aplomado Falcon
Falco femoralis
This long-winged, long-tailed falcon is widespread through Central and South America. Once common in dry grasslands of the U.S., this species is now being reintroduced into areas of south Texas. Adults are gray above with black-and-white face pattern, white breast, black band across mid-belly, and orange lower belly. Long, dark tail has thin white bands. Immatures similar to adults but have streaked breast and paler lower belly. Combination of plumage details and shape is distinctive. Hunts for flying insects and birds. Usually seen singly or in pairs.
识别特征
The aplomado falcon is very slender, long-winged, and long-tailed, the size of a small peregrine falcon (F. peregrinus), at 12–16 in (30–40 cm) long and with an average wingspan of about 36 in (90 cm), but only half the weight, at about 7.3–10.8 oz (208–305 g) in males and 9.6–16 oz (271–460 g) in females. In adult birds, the upperparts are dark blue-grey, as is much of the head, with the usual falcon "moustache" contrasting sharply with the white throat and eyestripe. 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. The tail is black with narrow white or grey bars and a white tip. The cere, eye-ring, and feet are yellow or yellow-orange.<p>Except that females are bigger than males, the sexes are similar. Juvenile birds are very similar to adults, 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, as are the feet.<p>This species may be confused with the bat falcon (F. rufigularis) and the orange-breasted falcon (F. deiroleucus), which have similar black-white-rust patterns below, but those species are built more like peregrine falcons and have solidly blackish heads and darker rufous bellies. These two species are generally considered to belong to the same lineage as the aplomado falcon. Two other Falco species of the Americas, the merlin (F. columbarius) and the American kestrel (F. sparverius), seem to be closer to the Aplomado group than most other falcons, but the relationships of all these lineages are fairly enigmatic. All that can be said with some certainty is that they diverged as part of an apparently largely western Holarctic radiation in the Late Miocene, probably around 8 to 5 million years ago.
分类信息
- 学名
- Falco femoralis
- 命名信息
- Temminck, 1822
- 目
- Falconiformes
- 科
- Falconidae
- 属
- Falco
分布与栖息地
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
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Acrochordopus burmeisteri
Small flycatcher found in forest canopy. Confusingly similar to other tyrannulets, but note especially its stubby (not pointy) bill with a very pale base, which can be quite evident since you are often looking straight up at the bird. Voice is another good clue; it often gives sharp whistles, either alone or in a series. It also tends to be more sluggish, perches more vertically, and stays higher up in the trees than other similar tyrannulets. It has two separate populations, one in the Atlantic Forest region, and another along the east slope of the Andes in Argentina, Bolivia, and perhaps far southern Peru. Northward it is replaced by White-fronted Tyrannulet, which is now considered a separate species. The area of overlap is not well known. Rough-legged Tyrannulet is more uniformly colored, showing little or no gray in the crown.
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Oleaginous Hemispingus
Sphenopsis frontalis
A study in dull yellow, this nondescript tanager lacks any distinctive field marks. The slightly brighter yellow eyebrow is only present in some regions, and might suggest something like a Citrine Warbler, but note the stouter bill and slightly chunkier shape. Usually found in pairs or small groups, often following mixed-species flocks through the understory and middle levels of foothill and subtropical forest from 1,500–2,500 m.
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