Falcon bird. Description, features, species, lifestyle and habitat of the falcon. Exotic animals in the house: birds Keeping birds of prey at home

Falcons are feathered creatures found in a huge variety of corners of the planet. Such birds are not only numerous, but also have an amazing diversity of species. They, classified as a genus of winged predators, are united in the falcon family.

The appearance of its representatives, despite the presence of a sufficient number of individual traits, is also endowed with many characteristics that are similar to the entire family.

These include, first of all, the sickle-shaped, characteristic only of certain types of winged fauna of the planet, the shape of wide and strong wings. Its characteristic outline is clearly visible in flight, and it is easy to recognize these creatures in the air.

Moreover, as you can see on the picture, falcon has a stocky, strong build, a hook-shaped small beak ending in a sharp tooth on the upper half.

These predators have impressive sizes, expressive eyes, the area around which is bordered by a bare, featherless area. Falcons are distinguished by their broad chest, rounded long tail and strong legs.

The color of the feather may vary depending on the species. For the most part, the general background has a gray or brown tint, marked by variegation and splashes of white.

Females of this family are usually larger than males. The weight of feathered ladies can easily reach 1.3 kg, and this is not the limit. While males are on average half a kilogram lighter.

Falcon stalks prey

Since ancient times, falcons in myths, legends and religious cults of different peoples have been associated with courage, bravery and nobility. These qualities are depicted in many works of art and epic poems.

In ancient Egyptian culture bird falcon was considered an extremely important totemic symbol, and its regal appearance was associated with the power of the pharaoh and with the appearance of a number of deities.

The Slavs have the most wonderful heroic stories associated with this winged creature. One need only recall that it was customary to call brave courageous warriors clear falcons. They were credited with honor, unbridled courage, dexterity, courage and luck.

Falcons are also smart and highly trainable. In captivity, such birds feel quite comfortable, and often experience genuine affection and selfless devotion to their owners.

These qualities served as a reason for their domestication by people and use for falconry. Ancient man, having such an assistant, did not need to carry any types of weapons with him.

The falcon's beak proves that the bird is a predator

The bird was able to independently detect the target and attack it. And all that was required of the representative of the human race was not to miss time and have time to pick up the prey.

For many centuries, until recently, this type of hunting was common in a huge number of Eastern countries, as well as in Europe. Some believe that the sovereign symbols of civilization represent a man with a hunting bird in his hand.

And this really seems to be true. It is worth mentioning that, for example, in Russia falconry was considered a sign of the sovereignty of a strong state. These birds are quite silent. However, threatening, but at the same time noble in its sound falcon cry well known to hunters of all nations and times.

Types of falcon

This family is represented by four dozen varieties. They differ in color, place of residence, characteristic habits, as well as sizes, which vary significantly from the half-meter size of large representatives of this family to small specimens with a body length of only about 35 cm.

Representatives of the largest and most famous group bear the same name as the entire family falcons. Kinds Such birds, especially extremely interesting specimens, are worthy of a detailed description, and therefore some of them will be presented below.

1. Mediterranean falcon- refers to large representatives of family brothers. The color of its top is gray-brown, the bottom is much lighter, and these creatures also have a reddish nape. These are found in the Balkans, Italy, Arabia and the northern territories of Africa. They inhabit areas of rocky semi-deserts and deserts, and are also occasionally found on rocky coasts.

Mediterranean falcon

2. Altai falcon in some areas of Central Asia at one time it was widely domesticated as a bird of prey and enjoyed considerable popularity. He is also a character in many stories of Hungarian mythology. The coloring of such birds depends on their belonging to a particular subspecies. There are falcons with grayish and brownish plumage, as well as with a reddish back.

Altai falcon

3. Short-tailed falcon- inhabitant of the South and East. This bird is small in size, being considered the smallest representative of the African species of the family. But it has an interesting color. The top of the bird's plumage is dark brown, the belly is lighter with a reddish tint; these birds are distinguished by red spots on the back of the head and a white throat.

Short-tailed falcon

4. Brown Falcon- inhabitant of New Guinea and Australia. In these parts they inhabit open plains and forest edges, and are found on agricultural lands. These falcons are smaller than average in size. They stand out from their relatives with longer legs and wider wings. The color of such birds is primitive, monochromatic, the same in representatives of both sexes. Its tone can be judged from its title.

Brown Falcon

5. Evening Falcon- a resident of the American continent, found in its central part from Mexico to Argentina. These birds are small in size, reaching an average length of 27 cm. Their coloring is interesting, contrasting, composed of black, red and white areas of plumage. The bird got its name because it usually goes out hunting after dark.

Evening Falcon

6. Mexican falcon belongs to the large representatives of the family. It prefers to settle in open areas of semi-deserts and prairies, and nests on rocks. It has a grayish variegated color. In the USA, these were widely used for falconry.

Mexican falcon

7. New Zealand falcon. The range of plumage of such birds, consisting of combinations of brown, gray, dark and whitish-ocher colors, is quite interesting and decorated with patterns and variegated spots. This bird has earned the honor of decorating with its appearance banknotes and coins of the state of New Zealand.

New Zealand falcon

Lifestyle and habitat

These, without exaggeration, settled almost all over the Earth, with the exception, of course, of its southern and northern poles. Varieties of such birds comfortably take root in the steppes and semi-desert areas, sometimes settling along coastlines, as, for example, do representatives of the famous species of such birds - gyrfalcons. There are species that prefer mountainous and rocky areas.

Falcon is a master of the hunt, keen-sighted and strong, capable of traveling more than three hundred kilometers in the air in an hour. The favorite pastime of these birds is air games, during which they delight the eye with the beauty of skillful flight and high maneuverability.

At such moments, that is, being in the sky, they seem to admire themselves and tease their rivals in the airspace, boasting of their capabilities. And they are able to amaze not only with complex pirouettes, but also with the height of the lift.

These birds are born nomads. But we are talking here not at all about seasonal migrations (they are usually performed by young, but not mature individuals), but about the character traits of such birds. We can say that they move from area to area at the call of their hearts and their own nature, and falcons often spend their entire lives traveling.

White Falcon

There are varieties of such birds that especially prefer a nomadic lifestyle. These include, for example, peregrine falcons, which have spread over a vast area of the world because of their love of travel.

As is already known, these winged creatures are not at all afraid of people; due to these circumstances, settling not far from human habitation and not being afraid when bipeds approach is quite in their spirit.

It should be noted that among birds, few are able to compete with a falcon in intellectual capabilities, which is why such birds are so easy to train when domesticated. People can not only exercise with such pets, but also play. However, you shouldn’t relax and forget that these are formidable predators.

Nutrition

A sharp tooth located on the beak of falcons allows such creatures to easily break the vertebrae of small birds, which they have masterfully adapted to catch. , using a variety of clever strategies to achieve this.

Falcon – predatory bird, who adores fresh blood, will never eat carrion. They prefer to hunt their prey in the morning and evening. Often these birds overtake their victims right in the air.

Finding a suitable target, dexterous birds often dive down from a great height at great speed. And after a successful hunt, they indulge in rest and digestion of food, preferring for this purpose places that are difficult for other living beings to reach.

Falcon eats prey

Describing falcon hunt, it is often said that it “beats its prey.” And this expression quite successfully reflects the swiftness and speed of his air throw. Attacking from above, these feathered predators inflict a powerful blow on the victim with their hooked beak. For small creatures, this is enough to hit them immediately and kill them.

Sometimes, not wanting to attack on the ground, the falcon scares the prey, causing it to rise into the air. Trying to escape in this way, the unlucky victim drives himself into a trap, because it is impossible to compete with a falcon in flight speed.

Next, the predator performs a pirouette in the air, attacking at a slight angle at considerable speed. Sometimes the cunning one deliberately misses, as if playing, or perhaps he is simply trying to direct the target into a trajectory convenient for himself. But soon after such an oversight, played out for a specific purpose, the strategist invariably makes a new attack, this time fatal for the victim.

In addition to winged small things, falcons eat rodents and large insects; in some cases they enjoy eating fish, snakes, and frogs. Having killed the prey with its powerful beak, the ruthless predator then tears it into pieces.

Reproduction and lifespan

These creatures are naturally monogamous. And, having formed a couple, they will jealously protect the family they have created from the encroachments of outsiders. The courtship of such birds takes place right in the air.

They represent rapid flights and games in the sky at great speed. It happens that partners, clenching their claws, begin to fall from a dizzying height. And only, having almost reached the ground, do they stop their deadly tricks.

Falcon and his chicks

Carefully choosing a place to raise future offspring, they prefer rocks and tall trees, looking for more secluded corners. However, falcon nest never located on the ground. Some of the species of such birds use other people's houses, abandoned by other representatives of the feathered kingdom, to raise their chicks.

Falcon eggs have a reddish hue. Their number and weight depend on many factors, and most of all on the sufficient nutrition of the mother of the future cubs. Hatching, in which both parents actively participate, usually occurs within a month.

A married couple usually takes responsibility for feeding and raising their offspring. Falcon chicks are under reliable parental protection for a whole month.

However, after this period, guardianship ends and the new generation has to take care of itself on its own. And affectionate father and mother can even soon turn into the most brutal competitors.

A falcon hatched chicks in a flower pot mounted on the balcony of an apartment building

A year later, the younger generation is already busy arranging their own nest. The lifespan of such birds is a decent period for birds, about 16 years. True, not all individuals live to old age.

The falcon has too many enemies in nature. These include birds - eagle owls, animals - ferrets, weasels, martens, foxes. The reduction in the population of such winged creatures is also greatly facilitated by the unreasonable activity of humans.

However, falcons remain true friends of people even today. And, being domesticated, such pets often live to a record age for wild relatives - 25 years or more.

Falcon is a diurnal bird of prey from the order Falconiformes, falcon family (lat. Falconidae).

Initially, in Rus', gyrfalcons were called falcons. The origin of the word is interpreted in different ways. According to I. G. Lebedev and V. M. Konstantinov, it arose from the Proto-Slavic combination so-kol: “so”: in the meaning “like, similar”, “kol” - “sun, circle”, which generally translates “ like the sun, sun-like." Indeed, many European and other peoples of the world associated this bird with the sun god. The word gyrfalcon comes from the onomatopoeic Proto-Slavic “krechet”, which means “krek, creak, scream.”

Of the 11 genera of the falcon family, 6 of them belong to falcons, the rest include various types of caracaras.

Laughing falcons, or laughing falcons (lat. Herpetotheres) - so named for their peculiar cry.
Forest falcons (lat. Micrastur) .
American pygmy falcons (lat. . Spiziapteryx).
Small falcons (lat. Polihierax) .
Pygmy falcons, or little falcons (lat. Microhierax).
Falcons (lat. Falco) – the name of the genus comes from the Latin “falx”, meaning “sickle”, which indicates the peculiar shape of the birds’ wings, clearly visible in flight. To emphasize their special position, in many sources the genus is called True Falcons.

Falcon breeding

Falcons are birds that tend to form pairs, and their mating ceremony involves display flights. The male and female can throw themselves down, clasping their claws, and fly for about 10 meters. In addition, the male presents his girlfriend with a gift in his beak.

Falcons often build nests themselves, but sometimes they occupy ready-made buildings of other birds of prey or corvids. Sometimes they take houses from their owners by force. Small representatives can live in natural tree hollows, recesses, niches or in artificial nests. Falcons settle on rocks, cliffs, trees, in burrows, on tall buildings, in self-dug holes in the ground. Birds most often do not line the places for laying eggs with anything. At the bottom there is only their droppings, food debris and fallen feathers.

Nest of the Aleutian (black) falcon (lat. Falco peregrinus pealei). Photo credit: Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0

Females lay 1 to 6 round white eggs decorated with red-brown speckles. Large falcons usually have a small clutch. The eggs are incubated by the female, although the male sometimes replaces her for a short time. Hatching lasts a month. Sometimes parents make mistakes with timing and can successfully hatch only the first chicks, since the interval between laying eggs is 1-2 days.

Left photo: Gyrfalcon egg (Falco rusticolus), photo credit: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo in the center: falco vespertinus egg, photo by Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo on the right: Egg of the common kestrel (lat. Falco tinnunculus), photo credit: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Laughing Falcons, or Laughing Falcons, they do not build nests themselves, but occupy empty hollows, nests of other birds of prey and rock crevices. They lay 1-2 eggs, which are incubated only by the female. The male carries food to the female and the chicks while they are still small. Incubation lasts 40-65 days. Then both parents bring food. The chicks leave the nest 8 weeks after hatching.
Forest falcons They make masonry in tree cavities, hollows, caves, rock crevices, abandoned houses. During the dry season they lay 2-3 white eggs, incubating them during the rainy season for 33-48 days.
Ecology American pygmy falcons poorly studied.
Small falcons occupy other people's nests, most often built by weaver birds. Their clutch contains 2-3 eggs covered with a white shell.
Pygmy falcons, or tiny falcons, more often build nests in hollows and lay white eggs. The African Pygmy Falcon takes up residence in the nests of social weavers.
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- Kestrels nest on rocks, in holes on the ground, in trees, including hollows, and along cliffs. The clutch contains 4-6 yellow-brown eggs covered with rusty spots;
- the gyrfalcon does not build nests, takes them away from buzzards or ravens, and lines them with dry grass, moss and feathers;
- The falcon settles in abandoned nests of magpies and crows, less often in hollows and niches. The female lays up to 6 eggs and incubates them. The male takes care of his girlfriend, feeds her;
- falcons need space and a nearby body of water to hatch their chicks. They often nest on rock ledges at a height of 20-80 m from the ground, in the tundra: along the banks of reservoirs or rocky outcrops. Less often they occupy the nests of other birds. The Mexican falcon can also nest on the ground. The female lays 2 to 5 eggs that are reddish or brownish-red in color with darker speckles.

Falcon falcons reach sexual maturity at one year of age. Young falcons have wider wings due to the development of their flight feathers. This prevents them from hunting, but it helps them learn to fly.

Baby peregrine falcon (lat. Falco peregrinus). Photo credit: Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York, CC BY 2.0

What does a falcon eat?

The prey of feathered predators is dominated by rodents, birds and large insects. Falcons can also sometimes eat fish. Large species prey on medium-sized mammals: , . Typically, falcons catch prey in flight and overtake a flying or running prey in a lunge. Small animals are grabbed with their beaks, large ones are stunned or killed with a blow of their claws.

Laughing Falcons(laughing falcons) are gourmets; they hunt snakes, often poisonous ones, lizards, small rodents, and woodlice, and are also fishermen.

Forest falcons They eat small birds and are able to attract members of the passerine family with characteristic sounds. They also catch lizards and rodents.

American pygmy falcons They love to eat insects, small birds and lizards.

Small falcons They feed mainly on large insects, less often on lizards, snakes and small birds.

Pygmy falcons, or tiny falcons, catch small prey on the fly or from a perch, looking for it from the tops of tall trees. They eat large termites, small birds, and lizards.

When hunting, kestrels look out during a fluttering flight or from a perch for small birds and large insects (dragonflies, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, etc.). They also feed on small animals (bats and ordinary mice), frogs, lizards, and snakes. The victim is grabbed with the claws and killed with a blow to the back of the head with the beak;
the red-necked falcon catches small birds: swifts, swallows, larks; flying insects: beetles, dragonflies; bats;
Falcons are falcons that often hunt insects: grasshoppers, dragonflies, beetles. Small rodents, amphibians and lizards are less commonly caught. They eat, sometimes they can catch larger birds, for example;
Hobbies hunt insects, bats and small birds: starlings, black swifts, rosellas, sparrows. Occasionally they catch mice and other land animals;
noble falcons (merlin, peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon, saker falcon, ashen falcon, etc.) catch birds: bee-eaters, orioles, waders, swallows, larks, bluethroats, wagtails, blackbirds, hoopoes, small passerines; , bats. Less commonly they feed on snakes, rodents, lizards and insects, gophers,. Black falcon eats carrion. The gyrfalcon in the tundra feeds on inhabitants of bird colonies (and auks), tundra and white partridges, small passerines, lemmings, hares, etc. The gyrfalcon takes the caught prey to a nest or other safe place, where it tears it apart.

Lifespan of falcons

The maximum lifespan of a laughing falcon in nature was determined using banding. It was 16 years and 3.5 months. In the zoo, birds of this genus lived up to 14 years.

The lifespan of American pygmy, wood, and diminutive falcons is unknown.

Presumably, the maximum lifespan of representatives of the genus Lesser Falcons is 20 years.

As for real falcons, the oldest kestrel in the wild lived to be 16 years old, and the same date is noted for the falcon that lived in captivity. Moreover, the average life expectancy of a kestrel is 11 years. There is a known case of the longevity of the peregrine falcon: the bird lived 25 years in captivity.

Enemies of falcons in the wild

All large predators are not averse to feasting on falcon meat, including. Eggs from their clutch are often stolen by martens and weasels. Most falcons die due to the destruction of their habitats by humans, a decrease in food supply, and disturbance at nesting sites. Birds often die on unprotected power lines.

Merlins fight (lat. Falco columbarius). Photo credit: Bear Golden Retriever, CC BY 2.0

The benefits and harms of falcons for humans

Falcons are nature's orderlies; they destroy many rodents. Thus, their numbers are regulated and in passing they ensure that people preserve the grain harvest.

Many species of falcons are easily tamed. They can help people when hunting, when protecting flocks of sheep from predators, gardens and fields - from smaller grain-, fruit- and vegetable-eating birds. Falcons are in the official state service of protecting Moscow's Kremlin monuments. They drive crows, pigeons and other man-made birds away from the golden domes, thereby saving building elements from erosion and subsequent destruction. At the airport in Brazil, falcons and hawks also drive away crows from the runway. They prevent accidents that can occur with airplanes due to large concentrations of birds.

Falcons, like other birds of prey, are protected everywhere, despite the fact that sometimes they can carry away poultry, including. But this happens only due to the owners’ oversight.

Types of falcons, names and photos

Below is a description of some varieties of falcons.

Laughing Falcon (lat. Herpetotheres cachinnans) - the only species of the genus. Lives in Central and South America.

The bird's body length is 45-50 cm, weight 400-650 g. In appearance and vertical position, it is similar to real falcons. But he has a round, big, owl-type head. The back and wings are dark brown, the tail is contrastingly striped. At the same time, the “cap” on the head, the lower part of the neck and chest are straw-yellow or golden-cream in color with streaks. The bird is also characterized by a black “mask” running through the eyes and back of the head.

Magpie pygmy falcon, small magpie falcon (lat. Microhierax melanoleucos) lives in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, India, and southern China. Prefers the outskirts of fields, forest edges, and climbs mountains to a height of 1500 m.

This is the largest and longest-tailed species of the genus of pygmy falcons. Its body length varies from 18 to 20 cm, the bird weighs 55-75 g. The predator has pointed wings and a square tail tip. The color of the falcon is contrasting: the dorsal side is glossy black, the abdominal side is white. A black stripe runs through the eyes. The legs and beak are black.

Common kestrel (lat. Falco tinnunculus) lives in Africa and Eurasia everywhere except the north. Lives in the Canary, some Japanese, British Isles, Sakhalin, o. Peter the Great, Cape Verde and Madeira Islands.

The kestrel has a stepped long tail, and, unlike other falcons, its wings are more rounded. You can see how this bird often “shakes” in one place in the air with its tail slightly lowered and its wings raised. The body length of males is 310-355 mm, females - 330-380 mm, the average weight of birds is 181-213 g. In the final plumage, males of the common kestrel are very different from females. The dorsal side of the male is red with dark brown transverse streaks and a gray hood on the head. There are also motley spots on the brown flight feathers of the wings. There are zigzag white spots on the inner webs. The tail feathers of the kestrel are gray with a black apical and white apical border. The underside is buffy with a longitudinal brown pattern developed to varying degrees. The male has a small black "whisker". The cere, legs and orbital ring are yellow. The male has generally less variegation in coloration, and his mantle is brighter. The female has a rusty-brown back, tail and shoulders covered with a wide dark transverse pattern. She has longitudinal stripes on her head and a grayish rump.

The meaning of the word “kestrel” in Russian dictionaries is interpreted as “frivolous, empty.” The bird makes sounds similar to the combination “ti-ti-ti” or “ki-ki-ki”.

Steppe kestrel (lat. Falco naumanni) is a bird of the order Falconiformes. Lives in Africa: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia; in the south of Portugal, Spain, Italy; in the Balearic Islands, Cyprus, Sicily, Crete, Sardinia; in Poland, Germany, Mongolia, Russia (Trans-Urals, Altai Territory, Omsk Region, Caucasus, Ciscaucasia, lower Don, Volga region), etc.

The body length of the steppe kestrel is 31-34 cm, the weight of males is 90-180 g, females are 135-210 g, the wingspan is 58-75 cm. The bird's tail is wedge-shaped, wide and long, the wings are narrow. The differences between the sexes are small. Adult females are red with longitudinal spots on the head. The ventral part is yellow-brown. The flight feathers are black-brown, with a wide, light, transverse pattern. The male has a gray head, the “whiskers” on it are not clearly defined. The back, shoulders and wing coverts are brick-red without a pattern, the rump is gray. The abdomen is yellow-brown with a longitudinal pattern developed to varying degrees. The beak is black at the end, orange or yellowish at the base. The paws, cere and eye ring are yellow.

Sapsan (lat. Falco peregrinus) is a rare bird of prey, protected in Russia, Western and Central Europe. But in the Red Book of the Earth, the peregrine falcon is listed as an animal that faces the least threat, since its range in other areas of the planet is quite wide. The peregrine falcon is a cosmopolitan that lives on all continents except Antarctica. In South America it lives only in Patagonia. Forms local races (subspecies). In winter, the peregrine falcon migrates to warmer areas.

In size, the bird is second only to gyrfalcons. The average length of its body is 40-50 cm, weight 700-1000 g. Adult birds have a grayish-brown back with a transverse bluish pattern. The loin and rump are paler. The flight feathers are black-brown with a transverse reddish or yellow-brown pattern on the inner webs. There is a black spot under the eyes, which turns into dark stripes on the sides of the head - “whiskers”. The tail feathers are black or grayish-brown with bluish stripes. The ventral side is light with a reddish tint, often with a bluish bloom on the sides, with a black or brown transverse pattern on the underwings, undertail feathers and lower leg. There are usually heart-shaped spots or black streaks on the chest. The tarsus is less than half feathered. Females have a duller dorsal side and a more mottled ventral side. A flying peregrine falcon can be confused with a goshawk, but the falcon's tail is shorter and sharper, and its wings are longer. The word “peregrine falcon” appeared in Russian literature in the 19th century; it was borrowed from the Kalmyk language and translated means “falcon”.

Aleutian falcon (black falcon) (lat.Falco peregrinus pealei ) is a subspecies of the peregrine falcon. Its nesting area is limited to the islands of the North Pacific Ocean: Komandorsky (Medny and Bering), Aleutian and Queen Charlotte islands. During non-breeding times, the black falcon can be found on the coasts of North America, Japan, Manchuria, and the Russian Far East. More often he leads a sedentary lifestyle, less often he wanders. Settles near the “bird colonies”.

The black falcon is the largest of the peregrine falcons: the weight of a young female can reach 1.179 kg. In the nesting plumage, the upper side of the bird is single-colored, dark brown. The underparts are brown with a light throat and chin, with white edges of feathers, and on the sides with transverse variegated shading. Adult falcons have a dark-colored head and interscapular region, the abdomen and lower part of the neck are white with a frequent irregular pattern. There are no red tones in the color of the bird. The pattern on the crop and chest is in the form of transverse broken lines, and on the sides, legs and undertail there is longitudinal shading. Males are somewhat lighter than females.

Amur falcon (eastern falcon) (lat. Falco amurensis) - a bird common in southeastern Transbaikalia, Primorye, Manchuria, northwestern Mongolia, Korea, and Northern China.

The average wing length of the bird is 22-23 cm, the average body length is 30-31 cm, the weight of the falcon is 114-140 g. Males in the final plumage are similar to the nominal race, but differ in white underwings. They have a bluish-gray body with a silvery coating on the wings, a black tail and head. The lower legs, undertail and rear part of the belly are rufous. Females are peculiar. They do not have red tones in color; the dorsal side is gray with a darker transverse pattern. Their head is also gray with well-defined black “whiskers”. The ventral side is white with a dark brown longitudinal pattern, on the sides turning into transverse stripes of irregular shape. The undertail and shin feathers are plain white.

Cheglok (lat. Falco subbuteo) is a small falcon, very similar in appearance to a peregrine falcon. The bird's distribution area is the temperate zone of Europe and Asia, as well as North Africa. Due to the wide distribution of the species, there is significant variability in color and size. Subspecies living in northern Eurasia are darker in color; smaller subspecies live in Africa and China.

General features of Hobbies: long wedge-shaped tail, pointed wings, average body length 28-36 cm, weight from 130 to 340 g, wingspan 69-84 cm. Adult birds are brown on the dorsal side with a more or less developed bluish tint. A worn feather has no tint. The male's underparts are buffy, with dense longitudinal streaks, the “whiskers” and head are black. The throat and cheeks are white, the undertail and legs are rufous. There are white streaks on both sides of the back of the neck. The female is brownish, more monochromatic. The voice of the Hobby is loud, the sounds it makes resemble the combination “kli”.

Eleanor's cape, Eleanor's falcon, or alet (lat. Falco eleonorae) larger than the common hobby. Its body length is 36-42 cm, its wingspan is 87-104 cm, its weight is 280-420 g. It is similar in color to the common Hobby, but there are also completely black birds. The white morph of the aleta is distinguished by the absence of the rusty tint of the plumage of the “pants” and the dark underside of the wing. In females, the color of the feathers contains brown, brown and yellowish tones.

Hobbies nest on the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, in Tunisia and Algeria, on the coast of Morocco, and on the Canary Islands. They winter in Madagascar and the Comoros Islands.

Gyrfalcon (lat. Falco rusticolus) - This is the largest falcon, with wide wings, a long tail and a powerful physique. It is one of the rarest birds in Russia, listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and the Red Books of 40 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. According to the International Red Book, this is a rare and vulnerable species.

The gyrfalcon is an inhabitant of the Arctic and subarctic regions of the Earth. His home is Kamchatka, Taimyr, etc. The bird is found on the continents of Eurasia and North America, on the islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Commander Islands and Greenland. In winter, the falcon migrates southward approximately 1-2 thousand km.

The wingspan of the gyrfalcon varies from 120 to 160 cm, the body length is 48–60 cm, the weight of males is 1.3 kg, females are 2.1 kg. The color of the bird is either dark gray with numerous streaks, or pure white, almost devoid of spots. White gyrfalcons live on the island. Greenland and eastern Siberia. The voice of the gyrfalcon is similar to the cry of most falcons: a drawn-out whining “keek-keek-keek” or a hoarse “kyak-kyak-kyak”. The flight of a gyrfalcon is a change from flapping and soaring modes of movement.

Gyrfalcons were used for hunting in many countries around the world. In Russia, there was even a position of falconer at the Tsar’s palace, and the places where these birds were kept were called krechatnya.

Shahin, red-headed peregrine falcon, red-headed falcon, or desert falcon (lat. Falco pelegrinoides) distributed in Central and Central Asia: from the Mongolian Altai to the central Tien Shan.

This is a small subspecies, relatively short-tailed and long-winged. The average body length of a male is 36 cm, a female is 42 cm, the weight of a male is about 330 g, a female is about 500 g. The maximum recorded weight of a female from Turkmenistan is 765 g. The color of the Shaheen is pale and light. In adults, the feathers on the crown, forehead and neck are reddish-rufous. The back of the birds is pale gray, slightly smoky, with a darker transverse brownish pattern. Feathers often have a rufous edge. The ventral side is of different shades of red, with a faint brownish pattern.

Laggar (lat. Falco jugger) – resident bird of prey, lives in Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Iran, Myanmar. Flies to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Externally, the laggar is similar to the saker falcon, only it is somewhat smaller in size. Its body length is 21-50 cm, the weight of an adult female from Turkmenistan is 755 g. The laggar’s plumage is dense and hard, its wings are sharp and long. The back of adult birds is grayish-brown. There is a white border on the crown. The underside is white, with brown sides and leg feathers, sometimes with brown spots on the belly and chest. The tail is one color, brown. The flight feathers of the wings are brown with whitish transverse stripes on the inner webs.

Saker falcon (lat. Falco cherrug) distributed in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia.

This is a long-tailed, large falcon with a body length of 45 to 55 cm. Males weigh up to 990 g, females - up to 1300 g. The color of the dorsal side is variegated brown, the underside of the body is light with spots in the shape of drops and arrows. The bird's head is often lighter in color than the body and tail, and is decorated with a dark "whisker". The tail and the inside of the wings are striped. The cere, legs and orbital ring have a bluish tint.

The word “saker falcon” is translated from the Crimean Tatar language into Russian as “big, large.” The cry of the saker falcon is a rough, hoarse “hack-hack” or “heeek-heeek.”

Turumti, or turumdi (turmuti), or red-necked falcon (lat. Falco chicquera). The total length of its body is about 30 cm. Distributed in Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and India. Turumti is characterized by a brick-red “cap” on its head.

Merlin (drobnik, dermlig, derbnichek, derbushok, kobets, falcon or mouser) (lat. Falco columbarius) is a bird that lives in North America, Northern and Eastern Europe and northern Asia. In winter, the merlin migrates further south, sometimes reaching the tropics.

In build, it somewhat resembles a miniature gyrfalcon. It has a long tail and pointed wings, which when folded fall slightly short of the end of the tail. The long tarsus is feathered to half. The beak, compressed laterally, is equipped with a narrow ridge. The average length of its body varies from 30 to 32 cm, the weight of the merlin reaches 19-23 g. The beak is blue-horned, blackening towards the apex; claws black; the cere, eye ring and legs are yellow. Females are a third larger than males, and they also differ in color. Adult males are bluish-gray with dark trunks of feathers, their heads are the same color, but with light edges of the feathers. There are faintly noticeable “whiskers”. The back of the neck is reddish with dark streaks. The flight feathers of the wing are brown with whitish transverse stripes on the inner webs. The tail is gray with a black transverse pattern. The ventral side is white-buff with a pattern of dark longitudinal spots. Females are dark brown above and mottled gray below. Their tail is striped, with alternating cream and brown lines, with a light edge.

An excellent hunter, an amazingly dexterous bird. In its strength and speed of flight bird falcon can't compare with anyone. Its flight speed reaches 320 km/h and this is amazing.

This predator feels much more confident in the air than on the ground. Thanks to his strength and agility falcon bird of prey deservedly called the main winged bird on the planet. They maneuver perfectly and show unprecedented dexterity in flight.

Not only in legends, but also in real life bird of the falcon genus - this is the deadliest weapon. But, as soon as the falcon bird descends to the ground, its agility and agility are replaced by clumsiness and clumsiness.

Since ancient times, people have learned to tame this strong bird, and to this day falcon, eagle bird remain the most faithful and devoted friends to the hunter, which is why they differ from other predators. The falcon hunts well thanks to its perfect, sharp vision. He can see his prey from the air a kilometer away, and on the ground a hundred meters away.

Features and habitat of the falcon

It is impossible to look at without fascination photo of falcon birds. They fascinate with their strength in the body, massive chest and strong, wide wings. They have a rather short beak. Only at first glance it seems small and unsuitable.

In fact, the falcon's beak is its most important and powerful weapon, on the upper jaw of which there is a sharp tooth. It closes with the lower jaw. The bird's eyes are surrounded by a narrow, bare ring. The falcon has a long tail.

Its wings are also large, reaching to the end of the tail. The flight feather is the second one, and it is also the longest. This design of feathers is already present in adult birds.

Young ones, at a young age, have all the flight feathers, and this is what distinguishes them from their mature relatives. When you see the wide-open wings, you can be sure that a young falcon is in flight.

This causes him some inconvenience in flight, but at the same time he acquires skills in flight. There are about 40 species of falcons on the entire planet. These 40 species are classified into three types based on their external features and hunting methods.

These strong ones live in many places. The only place where they cannot be found is the Arctic regions. For different types of birds, there are correspondingly different habitats.

For example, the noble falcon, the gyrfalcon, lives in northern countries and prefers the shores of the ocean, with many different birds. Falcon, peregrine falcon and many of his other brethren cannot sit in one place at all.

It seems that they decided to fly around the whole world. And this is actually what happens. From Asia they fly to Europe, then they are observed in Africa and America. For some types of falcon, harsh Russian winters are preferable, while others feel great and comfortable in hot equatorial countries.

The character and lifestyle of the falcon

What kind of bird is a falcon has been known for a long time. Thanks to its majestic posture, entire regal appearance, courage, strength and dexterity, it has long been considered a noble bird. They hunt in the morning and in the evening.

The rest of the time they calmly digest their prey in secluded, inaccessible places. The principles of falcon hunting are different. They can overtake their prey in flight.

The victims are smaller birds. From a great height, falcons overtake their ground prey. At such moments it is simply impossible to see them due to the rapid fall at incredible speed.

The photo shows a flying falcon

This strong one nests high in trees, on bulky structures, on rocks and very rarely on the ground. There are cases when falcons settle in someone else's spacious nests.

There are falcons that periodically like to have fun; for this they put on a real show in the air. This particular type of bird is easy to tame. They are not afraid of people, quickly get along with them and can even settle nearby with them.

Falcons often visit, tease other birds of prey, and this gives them pleasure. Almost always, it is these birds that fly to their wintering grounds in large groups and very often bring great benefit to humans.

What distinguishes them from steelhead birds is their ability to fly too high into the air. Falcons never eat carrion. They live in pairs, trying with all their might to protect their space from their fellows and other predators.

Literally all species of falcons have a tendency to be nomadic. Only in some it manifests itself throughout the entire time, others wander only to overwinter, and still others do it periodically.

Falcon feeding

Everything that a falcon obtains during a hunt constitutes its food. From small birds, to insects and land mammals and rodents, this bird eats with pleasure.

It is interesting that the predator is capable of hunting not only a flying prey; it is also excellent at neutralizing an unsuspecting animal sitting on the ground.

When raising a falcon in a nursery, it is necessary to constantly supply it with real game; other food can make the bird sick. Therefore, before getting yourself a falcon, you need to find out one question for yourself - whether the owner will be able to provide it with such food, because for this you may have to hunt yourself.

Balanced foods should be included in the diet. The falcon will feel best if it receives either rodent meat or lean meat. If you adhere to such a diet, falcons will even retain the ability to reproduce in captivity.

The photo shows a falcon's nest

Reproduction and lifespan of a falcon

All species of these birds reproduce almost equally. Monogamy thrives in their relationships. Consistency is very important to them. The choice of a couple is taken very seriously.

And during marriage ceremonies you can see bird displays. Falcons that live in the northern parts begin the breeding season a month later than all others, this is due to cold weather conditions.

Falcons choose a variety of places for nesting, taking into account their safety. The female lays from 2 to 4 eggs, red in color. The number of eggs laid directly depends on the availability of food.

In the photo there are falcon chicks

The more food, the correspondingly more eggs. The eggs are incubated by both the female and the male. This lasts about a month. Parents surround the little chicks with full care. The older birds will have to leave the territory, because the parents begin to feel their competitors in them.

Can buy a falcon bird. There are people who specifically breed and train them. They quickly become attached to a person and become not only a new family member, but also a true friend. Falcon bird price low, about 20 dollars.

Small daytime predators in the house The common kestrel is a very common predator. It is his ringing cry “kli-kli-kli-kli” that is heard in the spring at the edge of the forest. It is the kestrel that we see so often over the field, trembling in one place, as if suspended by an invisible thread. The bird is the size of a pigeon. It is beautifully colored in red tones, the males are especially beautiful. Chicks taken from the nest adapt perfectly to captivity and quickly become completely tame.

The kestrel is one of our most useful birds. Our kestrels, brought as chicks from the Stalingrad region, remained in our memory for a long time as cheerful and pleasant birds. We fed them mainly meat. They ate it clearly more readily than the red-footed falcons. When the chicks grew up, they lived together in a separate enclosure. The young birds loved to play. Among the enclosure was a tree trunk. Using it, the kestrels started a game of hide and seek. One was hiding behind him, clinging to the bark, and peeking out. Another pretended to be looking for her friend. Then she suddenly rushed at her: a chase and a fight began. Sometimes one of the birds got tired of the game and the kestrel left it, while the other continued to have fun: it grabbed a fir cone or stick on the floor of the enclosure, threw it into the air, and tried to catch it with its beak. All this was done with unusual antics and jumps for a bird. Captivated by the example, the calmed bird also took up the same game. The two of them started fussing again. And, really, at these moments the kestrels looked more like playing kittens than birds. When getting yourself a kestrel, do not forget that this is one of our useful birds - exterminators of rodents in the fields.

The steppe kestrel was kept by zoologist M.N. Kishkin. She appeared in a house from the outskirts of Kustanai as a small downy chick. She was fed meat (most often lamb) and large insects (mostly orthoptera and beetles). The bird's favorite food was milkweed hawk moth pupae, which were given in winter. In addition to the above, the kestrel ate much more.

The visual acuity of predators can be judged from the story of the owner of this kestrel. One day, a bird, sitting near the ceiling of the room, noticed a fruit fly crawling across the table. This insect is hardly larger than a flea. The kestrel flew down and crushed the fly with its paw, or rather with its fingers folded into a fist.

The kestrel loved to bathe in a plate of water. In connection with. This caused a scandalous incident. A completely bald professor came to visit her owner. Seeing the shiny surface, the bird instantly flew onto the guest's head and began to squat and shake its wings, as it did while swimming. The kestrel had many different habits. One of the most unpleasant was that the bird would snatch pencils, pens, brushes from my hands or look for them in the room. She stacked everything stolen on the ledge near the ceiling. M. N. Kishkin considered the kestrel an excellent “barometer”. 3-4 hours before the weather change she became drowsy: she closed her eyes, dozed off and “nodded off.”

This kestrel lived in captivity, flying freely around the room, for more than four years. The bird was completely tame and, of course, everyone’s favorite. She died from a completely unusual reason - she ate too much sour cream, which she loved very much. An autopsy showed that the bird died due to intestinal obstruction, in which the sour cream formed a hard plug.

The falcon is the smallest, most beautiful and, perhaps, our most useful falcon. The male is slate gray with bright red paws and a beak cere. Female - with streaks on the chest, dark gray above; young ones are almost the same color, but lighter. Falcons diligently catch mice when there are a lot of them. But the main and common food is large insects. These falcons, having an easy and fast flight, catch them in the air or peck (locusts, beetles) from the ears of corn in the field, right in flight. Falcons are widespread in our country, but are numerous only in the steppe South. Here they do not make their own nest, but use old ones, most often magpie ones. However, magpie nests in the south also replace hollows for other hollow nesters: forest owls and scops owls, kestrels, etc. I once had to take about two dozen falcons from the banks of the Ilovlya (a tributary of the Don), from the Stalingrad region, to Moscow. They were needed for work on studying flight. In addition, I wanted to release them in the Moscow region. Maybe they would settle here.

Many falcons lived in magpie nests. But only chicks were selected - downy ones or those that began to dress with feathers (later it turned out that the former became incomparably more tame than the latter).

The chicks were placed in groups of 3-4 in special long boxes with a metal mesh on one side. They were seated not by belonging to the same family, but by age. The main food for falcons was raw meat, which they were not very willing to consume. I had to use a net to kill insects for them: they ate locusts greedily. The sparrows helped us out - we made observations on their agricultural importance and dissected many chicks, on some days - several dozen. At this time, our red falcons, of course, were not starving. Occasionally, crushed eggshells were included in the meat. Despite such a monotonous diet, our birds grew and developed normally. We fed them three times a day. The grown chicks were released from the boxes where they lived to go for a walk. They were given the opportunity to run and then fly. So that they get used to people better, they carry them on their hands.

The red falcons were delivered to the Bolshevo Biological Station. The difficulty of transportation was that, when hungry, the chicks screamed at the top of their lungs. They were echoed by the other birds we were carrying. As soon as feeding began, the screaming intensified. Since it lasted several minutes, we had to keep the chicks in the heating room of the carriage. They couldn't be heard from there.

At the Bolshevskaya Biological Station, red falcons appeared in the most unusual way. We arrived from the expedition on the day and hour of its anniversary celebration. The birds were so tame that I decided to use them for a little hoax. When the director finished his speech, I appeared in front of the ceremonial table, wrapped in a black curtain, on my shoulders, head and arms - hawks sat everywhere. You can imagine the noise that arose at the table. But the falcons were unperturbed - one of them was cleaning himself, another started a game with a neighbor and tried to grab him by the beak, the third, the eldest, noticing something worthy of attention on the table, flew down, knocked over a bottle of wine, broke a plate and, frightened, he returned to his shoulder. The whole company, including two kestrels and three black-headed gulls, was housed in a large enclosure.

Our birds, without a doubt, distinguished from other people the woman who brought food and stayed with them for a long time. Already in winter, one of the falcons, living in her apartment, was indifferent to all the people who entered the room, although he took food from their hands. But as soon as the owner came home from work, the bird transformed and flew. to her, sat on her shoulder and expressed joy with all her behavior: she screamed, pressed her cheek. The falcon sat on the woman's shoulder for hours, traveling with her from room to room. Red falcons living at the biological station were often allowed out for a walk. They flew excellently, flashing like lightning near the house, but they were cowardly and did not move away from the biological station. One day, a frightened falcon came rushing from the direction of the village. He flew into the crown of a tree above the enclosure and hid there: a killer whale swallow was chasing him. The behavior of the red falcons was very strange when, having swooped in, they returned home for dinner. The birds sat on the trees near the aviary and began to scream - asking for food. They never wanted to fly down, even if they were shown the most delicious treats from the ground. I had to put a ladder up to the tree and climb behind each falcon. At the top, he immediately jumped from a twig to a person’s shoulder or head, descended with him to the ground and greedily pounced on the food.

The favorite food of falcons in captivity is large beetles, and any, for example, bronze birds, which no other bird seems to eat. The falcon takes the beetle in his fist, without bending, brings it to his beak and first tears off its head, then the elytra and wings. After this, the bird begins to stroke the insect from the inside and after a minute throws away the cleanly eaten chitin like an empty shell. The falcon takes any food into its fist, and this makes the feeding process very funny.

Autumn has come. Several red falcons were taken to Moscow, to the laboratory, to continue working with them, others were released into the wild. Actually, they were already free; they had just stopped feeding them. For a long time afterwards the falcons flew to the house. They screamed, called people, sat by the window and knocked on the glass with their beaks, trying to get into the room, which they managed so easily in the summer, when the windows were wide open. The red falcons visited us less and less, and then disappeared completely. We knew the fate of only one of them - he was shot (thought to be a hawk!) by some “hunter”.

Predatory chick. How to breed birds of prey at home? Reproduction or breeding of birds of prey in captivity is not an easy task, especially if the hobbyist does not have the opportunity to build large aviaries and does not plan to keep falcons or hawks only for breeding.

However, in reality, with patience, you can produce chicks from your falconry with a small area and a couple of mature individuals of the same or closely related species.

If you want to try your hand at breeding birds of prey at home, then you need to prepare your bird of prey right away, from the chick. Only birds raised from chicks are suitable for breeding in a small area or even when kept on a leash.

Sometimes among birds caught, especially at a young age, there are individuals that are not suitable for breeding.

Almost any falcon or hawk, properly hand-reared from a small chick, upon reaching sexual maturity (approximately three to four years), will show “tender feelings” towards its owner, and even towards all people (most often similar to the owner).

It should be immediately clarified that, having little space, you can only breed imprinted birds (which perceive humans as a partner). Of course, you need to master the skills of artificial insemination, have an incubator or brood hens.

It is imperative to ensure high-quality feeding of adult birds and chicks. And during the breeding season have enough free time. Preparation for reproduction begins with feeding the chick.

Qualities your falcon needs to breed

A falcon or hawk is not afraid of you, it itself makes contact with you (it can be wary of strangers, especially a hawk), and willingly takes food from your hands, being in a well-fed state (outside of training for hunting).
It behaves calmly on a leash or in an enclosure.
Having reached sexual maturity, it systematically greets your appearance with characteristic postures and vocalizations. During the pre-breeding and nesting periods, it spends a lot of time (especially the female) on the nesting platform.

Feeding birds of prey in captivity

You should constantly remember about high-quality feeding, which affects the greed, speed, working weight of the bird, etc. Only high-quality, fresh food can increase the hormonal levels in the body, on which the desire to reproduce depends.

Many European falconers who produce offspring from their falconers notice a direct connection between the excitement of hunting and the desire to reproduce (especially in males).

Make it a rule to feed your pet, whenever possible, fresh carcasses of pigeons, crows, quails, small laboratory animals, and sometimes day-old chicks. When keeping one or more birds, this is not difficult. Rabbits are excellent food for the eagle and golden eagle.

Domestic breeders, who know everything about breeding birds of prey at home and regularly receive offspring from golden eagles, claim that without feeding rabbits it is difficult to stimulate eagles to reproduce. German breeders, in turn, consider it unlikely that merlins and shahins will reproduce without the presence of sparrows in the diet of sexually mature birds.

From mid-winter, they begin to gradually replace day-old chicks and chicken heads with carcasses of quail (goshawk, peregrine falcon) and laboratory rats and hamsters (gyrfalcon, falcon).

So that before the start of egg laying (March-April) the birds are switched to almost completely fresh (or freshly frozen) carcasses of small and medium-sized feed animals. Artificial vitamins should be used very carefully. An excess of them can cause premature molting, and the bird will not lay eggs this season.

Room for birds of prey

It is more convenient to build a small enclosure for a falcon or hawk; for example, for small falcons and peregrine falcons, a room with an area of 3x4 m and a height of 1.5-2 m is sufficient, for a gyrfalcon 4-5. A specially equipped balcony (preferably glazed) may also be suitable.

There are known cases when adult female hunters incubated directly on a leash, in an artificial nest near their perch.

Fertilization of birds of prey at home

To obtain fertilized falcon or hawk eggs from an imprinted female, artificial insemination must be performed. Get acquainted with devices for artificial insemination, order or make dilators, capillaries, sperm diluents, etc.

Be sure to practice the scheme on domestic chickens; they are similar in size to most birds of prey. Sperm is obtained and artificially inseminated in two ways: voluntary and forced.

With the voluntary method, the quality of sperm is much higher. Keeping your birds stress-free won't make you worry about your bird breaking the nesting cycle. However, sperm that is voluntarily introduced into the cloaca, and not into the oviduct, must be in sufficient quantity and active.

To check the quality of sperm you need to have a microscope. It can be used to determine the degree of sperm activity.

With the forced fertilization method, the main advantage is that you can obtain sperm from a non-imprinted (tame) male or fertilize a non-imprinted female. This method makes it possible to insert a capillary with sperm directly into the oviduct, which increases the degree of fertilization.

The big disadvantage of this method is that the bird may stop spermatogenesis or laying due to stress. This method is usually used by experienced breeders, since there is a high risk of failure.

To master forced insemination and breeding birds of prey at home, you need to practice all the techniques on domestic chickens.

Sometimes forced insemination is also used in pair breeding, when the birds do not mate (this often happens with birds in captivity) or when the sperm of the male in the pair is not active enough.

Often in nurseries they prepare so-called social imprints (when the chick is fed by a person in a group with its own kind or partly by a person or partly by a tame adult bird).

Such birds are very good for hunting because they are not afraid of humans, but at the same time they do not scream very much and are able to breed in pairs. Full imprints are usually perceived as a human sex object and ignore their own kind.

Both birds from which it is planned to produce offspring must become sexually active at the same time. This can be achieved by having knowledge about the mating time in nature of birds of a certain species and preparing them for breeding in similar conditions and with similar feeding.

In case of an error, the female will lay eggs before the male begins spermatogenesis, and vice versa.

Let us give the approximate timing of spermatogenesis and the beginning of egg laying in some birds.

Balaban - the third ten days of February, the first, sometimes the second ten days of March (for northern subspecies). Caucasian and European peregrine falcon – third ten days of March, first ten days of April; tundra - the first and second ten days of May.
Shahin (Berber falcon) – second ten days of March.
Gyrfalcon – end of March, beginning of April.
Goshawk – first ten days of May.
Kamchatka goshawk – first ten days of May.

The timing of oviposition and spermatogenesis can be artificially accelerated by lengthening the daylight hours.

This is especially necessary for obtaining interspecific hybrids, for example, gyrfalcon and peregrine falcon, peregrine falcon and falcon falcon, gyrfalcon and falcon falcon. Today in Europe, hybrids of the peregrine falcon and the merlin, which have excellent flying qualities, are popular in Europe, as well as hybrids of the gyrfalcon and the Chinese black Shaheen or Taytafalcon (Indian Shaheen). Hybrids of the gyrfalcon and falcon are losing their popularity.

With interspecific hybridization, it is believed that the chick inherits more characteristics from the mother, although there are hybrids from the same parents that are not similar to each other. Hybrids of the gyrfalcon and falcon are mostly fertile, the rest are usually sterile.

The Balaban is the easiest bird of prey to tame and breeds well. He easily makes contact even with a stranger. Tame female balabans can even feed hawk chicks. Balaban is the most prolific among game birds (up to twenty eggs). Sexual maturity occurs at three to four years, retaining the ability to reproduce up to thirty years in captivity.

The gyrfalcon reaches sexual maturity at four to six years of age. It has weak immunity, so it lives in captivity for up to ten years. Imprints are good providers, loyal to strangers, and have low fertility (up to eight eggs).

The peregrine falcon reaches sexual maturity at three to four years of age. Distrustful of strangers, aggressive and nervous. This creates additional difficulties when changing personnel. Fertility - up to fourteen eggs. Duration of reproduction is up to twenty years.

The goshawk matures at two to four years. One of the birds that is difficult to breed because it is difficult to tame. Sometimes, when kept in pairs, the female can injure or even kill the male. Very distrustful of strangers. With artificial reproduction, up to fourteen eggs (usually five to eight) can be obtained from a female per season.

The imprint egg collection system boils down to the removal of newly laid eggs. In this case, the female must be artificially inseminated immediately within 2 hours after laying the eggs. In any tea, no later than 16 hours.

In this case, the first egg serves as a signal for fertilization and remains unfertilized. They fertilize voluntarily after each egg is laid, forcibly after one egg. One fertilization is usually enough for two or three eggs.

As a rule, a bird of prey lays eggs at intervals of two days. After the fourth to sixth egg is laid, laying usually stops temporarily (in falcons and hawks) and resumes after two to three weeks.

Incubation of birds of prey eggs

The process is no less complex than artificial insemination. Breeding birds of prey at home and incubating birds of prey eggs requires certain knowledge and skills.

Incubators produced for poultry are of little use. In Europe and America, specialized incubators for predators and parrots are produced, which have sensitive and precise equipment.

It's a good idea to use brood hens. Chicks are usually fed artificially for up to ten days. They are then placed with an imprinted female.

To get good birds of prey, you need to keep the chicks while growing up in special cages in the presence of people and hunting dogs, but during feeding, transfer them to an aviary with tame birds.

With such rearing, falcons or hawks will grow up calm towards humans, but are not imprinted, which sometimes makes it difficult for game birds to train.

When three-week-old birds begin to become feathered and feed themselves, you can occasionally hand feed them again so that they do not become unaccustomed to human contact.

We talked about breeding birds of prey at home; this is difficult work and requires experience, but everything should work out.