Details
Falco vespertinus
A small migratory falcon breeding from eastern Europe to central Asia and wintering in Africa; males are dark with red legs.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
Uses forest-steppe, grassland, wetland edges, and wooded farmland, especially where old nests allow colonial breeding.
Males are dark blue-gray with red lower belly and legs. Females have orange heads and underparts, gray wings, and red legs.
It often feeds and migrates in groups, catching insects in the air and using old corvid nests for breeding.
Large insects dominate, with small birds, lizards, and small mammals also taken. Flying insects are important on wintering grounds.
The species does not build its own nest, laying in old nests of rooks, crows, or magpies. Loose colonies form where sites are suitable.
Grassland loss, agricultural intensification, and shortage of nest sites have driven rapid decline, so it is listed as Vulnerable.
