The Prairie Falcon is a medium-sized falcon of the open, arid country of the west. It's lighter, brown-buff colors match well with tones of the landscapes over which it nests and hunts. This is a fast-flying bird that nests on cliffs and engages in hot pursuit of its prey over open country. Large blackish patches on the white underwings distinguishes this from all other falcons. A narrow, black mustache mark, blockish head shape and large eyes are typical. The back and upperwing are medium brown with pale bars and fringes on most feathers and the tail shows light barring underneath. The pale feathering of the underbody is spotted on the belly and barred on the flanks of adults and with streaks on immatures.
SIZE
This is a medium-sized hawk, second-largest in length of the six North American falcons. The Peregrine Falcon is the same length but is slightly heavier while the Gyrfalcon is the largest overall. There is no overlap in size or weight ranges between the smaller male Prairie Falcon and the larger females.
Females average 17 inches (43.2 centimeters) in length while males average 15 inches (38.1 centimeters). Wingspan in females averages 43 inches (109.2 centimeters) and males average 37 inches (94 centimeters). The average weight for females is 1.9 pounds (862 grams) and for males it is 1.2 pounds (544 grams).
MORPHS AND MOLTS
There are no color morphs in Prairie Falcon plumage and the males and females look the same. The back color of individual birds may vary somewhat but not in any way that suggests predictable color morphs. Darker backed birds are always juveniles in their first fall plumage. They alppear darker all the time because they lack pale cross barring on their back. Partial albinism has been reported for this falcon.
Molting occurs annually and following the juvenile plumage, it is the second molt before birds reach the definitive (adult) plumage. This does not change in appearance during subsequent molts. Molting begins with the wing feathers, followed by the body feathers and finally the tail feathers. In Wyoming and Colorado, molt begins in late May and is complete by early October.
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
Adult - Flight
- a large falcon with whitish undersides and dark patches in the center of the underwings, or "armpits" , and median coverts; heaviest on females of both ages
- the back often appears to have a "tan" look or at least much lighter than the dark back of a Peregrine Falcon
- the upper side of the tail is somewhat lighter than the back and wings and thus contrasts markedly
- in general, resembles adults but usually more streaked below and darker above; females darker under the wing than males
SIMILAR SPECIES
In overall size and proportions, the adult Prairie Falcon most closely resembles the adult Peregrine Falcon, but the latter is much darker-backed, has a significantly broader mustache stripe and lacks the dark patches in the axillars and median coverts of the wing underside. Many immature Peregrine Falcons have an identical narrow mustache but the light area on the face, behind the eye on the Prairie Falcon is distinctive. Light colored Swainson's Hawks may have a superficially-similar face pattern but they lack the white area between the eye and the ear patch as seen in Prairie Falcon.
OTHER NAMES
The Prairie Falcon has also been called the "Bullet Hawk."
ETYMOLOGY
Falco is of Latin origin and means "sickle." Many authors believed it to be in reference to the shape of the beak but it has been suggested that the name more properly refers to the shape of the talons. the species name mexicanus refers to Mexico - the country from which the Prairie Falcon was first described. Prairie describes the type of countryside preferred by this species, which is essentially open, hot and dry places.
MYTHOLOGY
There is no known mythology for this species in North America
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