Aplomado Falcon

 
Scientific name:   Falco femoralis
Family Name: Falconidae

Are they endangered?  No, they are not endangered worldwide. (IUCN Red list:  Least Concern)  They are endangered in some places like the United States (Texas). They are listed as endangered on the United States Fish & Wildlife Endangered Species System.

What are their past/present problems?  They have problems with pesticides.  Farmers put chemicals (pesticides) on their land to kill things they don’t want there like insects or MICE!  When that happens, insects will eat the grasses that the pesticides are on and birds will eat the insects.  These falcons will eat the insects or the birds which means they get the poison in them, too.  This will kill them or make them lay eggs with thin shells that break before they are ready to hatch.  These things affect how many Aplomado Falcons there are in the world.
What do they look like?  They have a gray back and a tail that is gray with white stripes.  There is a white band of feathers around its head and yellow above its gray beak.  They have yellow legs and feet. They have a long tail.
How big are they?  They are about 1 ½ feet long.  If they spread out their wings, they would be 2 ½ to 3 feet wide. 
How many eggs do they lay?  Females lay from 2 to 4 white eggs once a year.  Eggs hatch in a month.
How long do the fledglings stay in the nest?  Aplomado Falcons use stick nests that other birds left.  They like to use nests in yucca trees.  The young birds (fledglings) leave the nest in about 5 weeks.
When do they hunt?  They hunt during the daytime. (diurnal)
What do they eat?  They like to eat small birds and insects.
Where do they live?  They live in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America.
What kind of place do they like to live in?  They like open grasslands, or grasslands with a few trees, and marshy areas.
Interesting facts:
These birds don’t migrate because they are already in warm, tropical areas.

Works Cited:

Alderfer, Jonathan.  Complete Birds of North America.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic, 2006.

Alsop, Fred.  Birds of North America.  New York:  DK Publishing, 2001.

Aplomado Falcon.   5 Oct. 2007.  <http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/falcons/aplomado.html>.

Falco femoralis.  23 Jan. 2008.  <http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/49505/all>.

Schmoker, Bill.  “Re: Owl pictures (etc.).”   [Aplomado Falcon picture]   E-mail to Club Web.  2 Nov. 2007.