Falco subniger

2 Black Falcon at Michelago, NSW

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Identification history

Falco subniger	1 May 2019	ArcherCallaway
Falco subniger	27 Apr 2019	natureguy
Falco berigora	27 Apr 2019	Illilanga

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Significant sighting

ArcherCallaway noted:

1 May 2019

Rarely recorded in the region, and difficult to distinguish from darkest forms of Brown Falcon. As such, records of this quality are rare, and is unsurprisingly the first for Canberra Nature Map.

User's notes

Private property. No public access without permission. The falcons flushed the starlings out of a tree and then chased the starling flock over open country to separate out single birds. I managed to track one of the falcons with my camera. Unfortunately that falcon didn't catch a starling snack.

7 comments

Christine wrote:

27 Apr 2019

Were all four dark like this? Could they be Black Falcons?

Illilanga wrote:

27 Apr 2019

I did wonder about Black Falcons. I’m basing my ID on the fact that we have nesting Brown Falcons and this was about 1km away from the nest location. That’s not to say these falcons weren’t passing through. The bird in the photo was probably the darkest of the four and they didn’t hang around long after once they had flushed the starlings. I looked at the wings but it’s hard to tell how striped they are. My other photos do show other flight positions (wing profiles) but none that I thought would help but maybe they can. The tail shape is more like a Black Falcon. This sighting was from last year. Raptors are almost as frustrating a small brown birds. ;)

natureguy wrote:

28 Apr 2019

It just looked very dark and I thought it was too dark for a Brown Falcon. The general shape also appeared to fit more with that of a Black Falcon than that of Brown Falcon.

ArcherCallaway wrote:

29 Apr 2019

Don't ask me! I think the pointed tail is supposed to favour Black Falcon over Brown. If you have a front or back on photo of it soaring/gliding, that may help, depending on whether it is holding its wings slightly raised (Brown) or drooped (Black). A fanned tail may help - apparently another feature is a shorter outer tail with a notched appearance at the edge when fanned. I have put up a sighting of my own which I'm not convinced about too for debate :) Let the debate roll on: Unidentified on 10 Mar 2019

Christine wrote:

29 Apr 2019

I agree with all of the above comments, and also the feet look good for a Black Falcon, as the legs look shorter and feathered, as compared to a Brown Falcon, and no barring in the tail, but I am also no expert. Perhaps you could put the first photo onto the ABID group on facebook to get more expert opinion? We don't get a lot of Black Falcon sightings around here, so it is quite exciting when we do :)

ArcherCallaway wrote:

1 May 2019

Hi all,
I have contacted Jerry Olsen, a local raptor researcher who has written a number of books on raptors. He has assured me that this one is "a definite Black Falcon" (my sighting probably also Black). He tells me they had 2 definite local sightings last spring for the first time in many years, and now that they are present in the area, expects to see breeding in the future.
I will confirm this based on his comments and the discussion above. Thanks Christine for being the first willing to suggest Black Falcon which which we were all wondering but not willing to say :)

Illilanga wrote:

3 May 2019

Thanks Ryu!

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