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Collection  >  Order (Birds)  >  Order Information (Falconiformes)

Falconiformes

Falconiformes, from Latin falco (“falcon”) and Latin -fōrmis (“-shaped”), in reference to the fact that these animals are all falcon-shaped and falcon-related.

Falcons, caracaras, falconets and kestrels.

Photos

DISTRIBUTION

Worldwide, absent only from the densest forest of central Africa, some remote oceanic islands, the high Arctic and Antarctica.

SIZE

They are small to medium-sized animals, ranging from 35 g in weight to 1,735 g.

MORPHOLOGY

Their talons are sharply curled and their bills are firmly hooked. Typically, their feathers consist of brown, white, chestnut, black, and grey colors, frequently lacking any pattern.

ECOLOGY & HABITAT

Many species are adaptive to various places where food and nesting sites are available. Habitat varies from desert, forest, woodland, tundra, etc.

DIET

As diurnal carnivores, they consume carrion, insects, small mammals like bats, and birds.

REPRODUCTION

Some use a hollow tree, cliff cavity, etc. for nesting, while others use sticks, grass, wool to build an untidy nest. They breed once a year. Most are monogamous and have breeding territory. Females are responsible for incubating the eggs while males are responsible for hunting food.

REFERENCES

del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D. A. (2010). Handbook of the Birds of the World Series. Lynx Edicions.

Lovette, I. J., Fitzpatrick, J. W. (2016). Handbook of Bird Biology. Wiley-Blackwell.

Gill, F. B., Prum, R. O. (2019). Ornithology. W.H. Freeman & Co. Ltd.

Total species known

65

Species in the collection

3

Species in Hong Kong

4

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