mdahlem.net WWW

Aust birds    Bird names   News   1-26    Habitats    Key plants    Glossary    Plumage    Nests    Tips    Thumbnails    Gen. info    Sponsors    Photos for sale
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14	15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   W   Y

6

Grey Falcon (Falco hypoleucos) Alternate name(s): "Blue Hawk", "Smoke Hawk" Aboriginal name(s): "boorga" (WA) Size: 30-45 cm; wing span 85-95 cm Weight: 335-420 g (male), 485-625 g (female)

Australia: Family Group 6 Family Group 6 Table Osprey Brahminy Kite Whistling Kite Little Eagle Black Kite Square-tailed Kite Black-breasted Buzzard Wedge-tailed Eagle White-bellied Sea-Eagle Spotted Harrier Swamp Harrier Black-shouldered Kite Letter-winged Kite Pacific Baza Collared Sparrowhawk Brown Goshawk Grey Goshawk Red Goshawk Nankeen Kestrel Australian Hobby Peregrine Falcon Brown Falcon Grey Falcon Black Falcon Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Grey Falcons are small raptors. Their front (throat, breast, belly, vent) is almost white, while the back (mantle, upperwings, tail) is lightly streaked light-grey, with dark-grey wingtips. The thighs are covered by white feathers. The underwings and undertail are lightly barred light-grey. Eye-rings, cere, legs and feet are bright yellow. The irises are dark, the beak is light-grey with a darker grey tip. Contrary to most other species of falcons, Grey Falcons do not have a conspicuous "tear drop" pattern under their eyes. Juvenile Grey Falcons are somewhat darker than adults, with more streaking on the breast. "Raptors" (or "birds of prey"), most prominently, but also some species of waders, show a pronounced "dimorphism", i.e. a difference between male and female birds - not just in the appearance of the plumage, but in other, important properties, such as size or strength. Here we explain why.

Taxonomy, classification See Grey Falcon at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Grey Falcon is available HERE . NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species. Grey Falcons are endemic to Australia. The core range of Grey Falcons during their breeding season is very restricted, namely just a few locations near the border of QLD, NSW and SA: Along the Paroo River, around Innamincka and on the border of the NT and SA, plus one more patch in the north-western NT. Outside the breeding season Grey Falcons are occasionally found almost all over the interior of the continent, but mostly in the Red Centre. Areas where they are NOT found are: the South-West corner of WA, around the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York peninsula, the East coast South of the tropic of Capricorn, in Tasmania and in the south-western corner of VIC. Grey Falcons specialise in hunting in arid environments, e.g. in desert and semi-desert scrub, often from perches in River Red Gums along dry watercourses.

Sightings Click here for sighting information C. Hayne reports observing a Grey Falcon in flight over Midkin Nature Reserve, 15 km North-West of Moree, NSW, in March 2013. Next a bird was seen in a few bimble box eucalypt trees, on a cotton farm, 5 km North of Moree, in September 2013. A. Lines reports spotting Grey Falcons occasionally in the area of Ashley, Biniguy, Moree and Pallamallawa, NSW. H. Mouritsen reports finding a Grey Falcon along the Edith Creek Fall Road near Pine Creek, NT, in October 2015. J. Winterbottom reports spotting a Grey Falcon along the Eumungerie to Narromine Road, NSW, in May 2018.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Grey Falcon; note the yellow feet, plain-grey front and yellow cere (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Moree, NSW, September 2013]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile Grey Falcon; note the striation down the front and the still greyish-yellow cere
(photo courtesy of J. Winterbottom)
[Near Narromine, NSW, May 2018]

Frontal view of a juvenile Grey Falcon studying the observer suspiciously (photo courtesy of J. Winterbottom)
[Near Narromine, NSW, May 2018]

Frontal view of a juvenile Grey Falcon studying the observer suspiciously (photo courtesy of J. Winterbottom)
[Near Narromine, NSW, May 2018]

Immature Grey Falcon in-flight, with a clear view of its barred underwing pattern (photo courtesy of J. Winterbottom)
[Near Narromine, NSW, May 2018]

Breeding information

Breeding season: July - Oct

Eggs: 2 - 3

Incubation period: ca. 35 days

Fledging age: 49 - 52 days

The timing of the breeding season depends on geographic latitude; the period listed in the table above applies to the southern part of the Australian continent. In the tropical North Grey Falcons breed from April to June.

Nest building: N/A

Incubation: Female

Dependent care: Female & male

The female incubates the eggs and also stays in the nest with the chicks until they are strong enough to be left alone. Until then, female and chicks depend entirely on the male to provide them with food.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket (re-used)

Material: Sticks

Height above ground: <10? m

Nest building: N/A

Incubation: Female

Dependent care: Female & male

Black Falcons do not build their own nests. They either re-use or take over nests of other species - either by other raptors or those of corvids (ravens or crows).

(Re-used) Grey Falcon nest in a telecommunications tower (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Optalton, QLD, June 2021]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 51 x 39 mm

Colour: Creamy, with brown to chestnut speckles all over

Shape: Ellipsoidal

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sun, 13 June 2021, 8:21 +00:00