DSC2070 Red Footed Falcon...
Red Footed Falcon - Falco Vespertinus
Wiltshire
The Red-footed Falcon is a gregarious bird of prey usually found in flocks. It often breeds in colonies, and sometimes solitary, using abandoned Corvidae or raptors’ nests.
It is an eastern European species and a long-distance migrant that winters in southern Africa. It feeds mainly on insects, but the chicks are mostly fed with small vertebrates.
The Red-footed Falcon is very close to Amur Falcon which was formerly a subspecies of F. vespertinus.
The population is decreasing due to habitat destruction and the species is currently listed as Near Threatened.
The Red-footed Falcon breeds in C Europe from Estonia, Slovakia and Hungary, E through NC Asia to extreme NW China and upper R Lena.
It winters in SW Africa, from Angola, Namibia and N South Africa, through Botswana to Zambia and Zimbabwe.
HABITAT:
The Red-footed Falcon breeds in wooded steppes, valleys, clearings, cultivated areas and pastures with clumps or fringes of trees, riparian woodlands, orchards, marshy lands and open taiga. It breeds usually in lowlands, but up to 1500 metres of elevation in Asia.
During winter in SW Africa, it frequents grasslands, savanna and scrubland. They form large nightime roosts in groves of eucalypts, but also in towns and villages. Several thousands of birds may gather at communal roosts.
DSC2070 Red Footed Falcon...
Red Footed Falcon - Falco Vespertinus
Wiltshire
The Red-footed Falcon is a gregarious bird of prey usually found in flocks. It often breeds in colonies, and sometimes solitary, using abandoned Corvidae or raptors’ nests.
It is an eastern European species and a long-distance migrant that winters in southern Africa. It feeds mainly on insects, but the chicks are mostly fed with small vertebrates.
The Red-footed Falcon is very close to Amur Falcon which was formerly a subspecies of F. vespertinus.
The population is decreasing due to habitat destruction and the species is currently listed as Near Threatened.
The Red-footed Falcon breeds in C Europe from Estonia, Slovakia and Hungary, E through NC Asia to extreme NW China and upper R Lena.
It winters in SW Africa, from Angola, Namibia and N South Africa, through Botswana to Zambia and Zimbabwe.
HABITAT:
The Red-footed Falcon breeds in wooded steppes, valleys, clearings, cultivated areas and pastures with clumps or fringes of trees, riparian woodlands, orchards, marshy lands and open taiga. It breeds usually in lowlands, but up to 1500 metres of elevation in Asia.
During winter in SW Africa, it frequents grasslands, savanna and scrubland. They form large nightime roosts in groves of eucalypts, but also in towns and villages. Several thousands of birds may gather at communal roosts.