Falco concolor
The Sooty Falcon (*Falco concolor*) is a medium-sized, slender raptor, measuring 32-37 cm in length with a wingspan of 79-90 cm and weighing 250-400 grams. Adults exhibit a striking dark slate-grey plumage, with slightly darker primaries and diagnostic rufous undertail coverts, creating a uniform, elegant silhouette. Distinctive field marks include its long, pointed wings, a relatively long tail, and an obvious dark eye set against a yellow eye-ring, giving it a somewhat mournful or intense e...
Found in arid and semi-arid regions, the Sooty Falcon primarily inhabits rocky deserts, wadis, escarpments, and remote offshore islands, often near coastal areas or cliffs that provide suitable nesting sites.
Their diet shifts seasonally; predominantly large insects like dragonflies and locusts during the non-breeding period, but almost exclusively migratory passerine birds during their unique late breeding season.
Sooty Falcons are diurnal, often exhibiting crepuscular hunting patterns, and will frequently roost communally on cliff faces. Their foraging strategy is predominantly aerial, involving high-speed chases and spectacular dives to catch both large insects and, critically, migratory birds mid-flight...
The Sooty Falcon has a disjunct breeding range across North Africa and the Middle East, spanning from Morocco and Algeria eastward through Libya, Egypt, and across the Arabian Peninsula, including Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Breeding populations also occur in Iran and Pakistan. They ...
Near Threatened
- The Sooty Falcon is one of only two falcon species (the other being Eleonora's Falcon) known for its extraordinarily late breeding season, occurring from August to November. - This late breeding is a direct adaptation to the autumn migration of passerine birds from Europe and Asia, which become...