Red-footed Falcon

Falco vespertinus (Linnaeus, 1766)

		male female juvenile
2020-08-23 Ishim raion, Tumen oblast, Russia. 2009-06-28 Lake Kulundinskoy (eastern edge), Blagoveschensky district, Altai territory2013-08-25 Malkovo, Kupinskiy Raion, Novosibirskaya Oblast.	© Anna Golubeva © Andrey Bazdyrev© Sergey Pisarevskiy

Distribution

Forest zone, forest-ateppe, and some areas of steppe. Spatial distribution is much patchy, relatively common obly somewhere in forest-steppe and steppe. There is a population in southern Yakutia, bur more west, in Irkutsk Region, it got extinct in the 2nd half of the XXth century.

Biology

Red-footed Falcon is breeding migrant. Inhabits the areas in the forest-steppe and steppe zones in which the groves and riparian forests alternated by open areas. In spring appears in mid-April – early May. Migrates in flocks and singly; the migration is slightly visible. Breeds in loose colonies or by separate pairs. Nest is built in deciduous (rare coniferous) tree, often the old Crow, Rook or Magpie nests are used. Clutches of 2-6 (usually 3-4) eggs is in end of May – early June. The female incubates mostly, but male relays female on short time and sometimes brings the food. In first time only male brings the food to nestlings, but later both parents feed juveniles. Juveniles hatch from the end of June to mid-July and fledge in the end of July – August. The autumn migration begins in August.

References

В.К.Рябицев. "Птицы Сибири". Москва-Екатеринбург, Изд-во "Кабинетный ученый", 2014.