Falconidae

The Falconidae family consists of all of the falcons.  The only bird of prey family that has more birds in it is Acciptridae.  Characteristics of this family are that they:

	Live just about anywhere in the world.  They don’t live in Antarctica.
	Live in all kinds of habitats around the world.  When they choose a place to live, it is usually an open area without a lot of people around.
	Make their nests on mountain ledges or in holes in trees.  They don’t like to build their own nests and will usually use a nest that another bird left.
	Don’t usually have bird or animal enemies.  Their enemy is usually hunters or farmers who worry about them eating their chickens.  Pesticides like DDT have caused the bird of prey populations to decrease.  Farmers put the insecticide on their land so that insect and animal pests would die.  The prey of these birds eat the DDT and die.  The birds get sick or die.  Even if they don’t die, having DDT in their bodies causes the birds to lay eggs with thin shells that break before they hatch.  Even though there are laws in the United States to stop DDT, many countries still use it.
	Lay from 2-5 eggs that might be out in the open and on the ground.
	Are all meat eaters. (carnivorous)  Most of them eat other birds.
	Have special characteristics that make them really good hunters:
		They fly really really fast.  Some fly 200 miles per hour which is what a race car drives.
		They are aerodynamic.  Their bodies have long wings and narrow tail.  Their noses are made so that they can handle high speed air flow.
		They use air currents so that they can fly longer.
		They hunt during the day.  (diurnal)
		They have sharp talons and strong legs for grabbing and holding their prey in the air.  They will usually try for the prey in the air before they go for the ground prey.  If they catch prey in the air, they sometimes take it to the ground to kill it.
		Even though they catch their prey with their talons, they kill it with their beaks.  This is different from other birds of prey.  There is a hook at the side of their short, strong beak that they use to break the neck of their prey.

Our Falonidae birds:

	Prairie Falcon
	Collared Forest-falcon
	Eurasian Hobby
	Aplomado Falcon
	Eurasian Kestrel
	Crested Caracara
	Gyrfalcon
	Peregrine Falcon
	Merlin
	American Kestrel

Works cited: 

“Falcon.”  Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia.  1991 ed.

“Falcon, falconet, and caracara.”  Encyclopedia of Animals.  2006 ed.

“Falconidae.”  18 Oct. 2007.  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falconidae>.

“Falcons, caracaras.”  18 Oct. 2007.  <http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/winkler/botw/falconidae.html>.