Bird Album
Red-footed Falcon
Falco vespertinus Linnaeus, 1766
30 cmLength72 cmWingspan152 gWeight
The male is slate-gray overall, with rufous restricted to the legs and undertail.
Busiest months: May · Most records: Bulgaria, Greece, United Kingdom
How to identify
Field marks
- Male slate-gray overall
- Area around the vent, undertail-coverts and both legs rufous
- Adult male has entirely gray underwings
Male, female and young
Juveniles have brown upperparts and buff underparts with dark streaks.
Where and when it's recorded
Busiest months: May · Most records: Bulgaria, Greece, United Kingdom
Red-footed Falcon has been recorded at 571 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 69 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), formerly the western red-footed falcon, is a bird of prey. It belongs to the family Falconidae, the falcons. This bird is found in eastern Europe and Asia although its numbers are dwindling rapidly due to habitat loss and hunting.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Red-footed Falcon?
The Red-footed Falcon is about 30 cm long, with a wingspan of 72 cm and weighs around 152 g.
Where does the Red-footed Falcon live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: central Europe to Central Asia. It is most often recorded in Bulgaria, Greece and United Kingdom.
When is the best time to see the Red-footed Falcon?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Red-footed Falcon endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Red-footed Falcon as Vulnerable.
What does the Red-footed Falcon eat?
Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.
What family is the Red-footed Falcon in?
It belongs to the family Caracaras, Falcons (Falconidae), order Falconiformes.
At a glance
- Length
- 30 cm
- Wingspan
- 72 cm
- Weight
- 152 g
- Habitat
- Grassland
- Diet
- Insects & other invertebrates
- Lifestyle
- Feeds in the air
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Vulnerable
More measurements
- Wing
- 238 mm
- Tail
- 125 mm
- Bill
- 17 mm
- Tarsus
- 28 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: central Europe to Central Asia
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- Caracaras, Falcons Falconidae
- Genus
- Falco
Other birds in the genus Falco
Lesser KestrelFalco naumanni
Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
Rock KestrelFalco rupicolus
Malagasy KestrelFalco newtoni
Mauritius KestrelFalco punctatus
Seychelles KestrelFalco araeus
Spotted KestrelFalco moluccensis
Nankeen KestrelFalco cenchroides
American KestrelFalco sparverius
Greater KestrelFalco rupicoloides
Fox KestrelFalco alopex
Grey KestrelFalco ardosiaceus
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Kurilin M S. ↗
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