NL·0442Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Falco cherrug
- Family
- Falconidae
- Native to
- Breeds from central Europe (Hungary, Slovakia, Austria) through Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia to Mongolia and China; winters south to the Middle East, northeast Africa and South Asia
- Habitat
- Steppe, Semi-desert, Farmland, Mountains
On eBird ↗
Saker Falcon
Live sightings near you, the range map, bar charts of when it is seen, and Macaulay Library photos and recordings.
Saker falcon
Falco cherrug
Also calledSaqr hurr (Arabic) · Balaban (Persian) · Ulu doğan (Turkish) · Charg (Urdu) · Kerecsensólyom (Hungarian) · Balaban (Russian) · Würgfalke (German)
A large, powerful falcon of steppe and semi-desert, prized for millennia by falconers from Arabia to Mongolia. Electrocution on power lines and capture for the falconry trade have pushed it to Endangered.
The saker falcon is a large falcon species. It breeds from Central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is a partial migrant, which means that some part of the population is migratory, some part is not. In Europe, for example, a part of the juveniles are migrating, while adults are mostly resident. The European and West Asian migratory sakers spend the winter in the Sahel region. On migration, they cross the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, and Pakistan, where they are exposed to illegal trapping. The migratory birds to the east from Altai Mountains spend the winter in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iHunts ground squirrels (sousliks) close to the ground with fast, low pursuit flights
- iiCan take prey as large as houbara bustards when trained
- iiiUses nests built by other birds, including on power pylons
- ivReadily breeds in artificial nest boxes on pylons, a key conservation tool in Hungary and Mongolia
In the field
Field marks
- aLarge, brown falcon with a pale, often whitish, streaked head
- bThin, faint moustache stripe
- cBrown upperparts with rufous edges; heavily streaked underparts
- dLong tail and broad-based wings; dark underwing coverts contrast with paler flight feathers
- Voice
- A harsh, scolding 'kyak-kyak-kyak' near the nest.
- Not to be confused with
- Peregrine is darker slate above with a bold moustache and barred underparts. Lanner falcon (Mediterranean, Africa) is smaller with a rufous crown. Gyrfalcon (Arctic) is heavier and barred above.
- Where to see it
- Hortobágy and Kiskunság plains (Hungary), Kazakh steppe, Mongolian steppe; on migration at Batumi and in the Middle East.
- When
- Resident in central Europe; migratory from northern and eastern populations, wintering Oct–Mar
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Ground squirrels, voles, pikas, hamsters; birds such as pigeons and partridges
- Habitat
- Open steppe, wooded steppe, semi-desert, farmland with pylons
- Size
- 47–57 cm; wingspan 97–126 cm; males 730–990 g, females 970–1,300 g
- Lifespan
- Typically under 10 years in the wild; 20+ in captivity
Hunts by fast, contour-hugging flight, surprising mammals before they can reach their burrows.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Breeds from central Europe (Hungary, Slovakia, Austria) through Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia to Mongolia and China; winters south to the Middle East, northeast Africa and South Asia
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Woodcuts and engravings matched from the Source Library’s scanned books by name. Plates marked “relative” show a close kin rather than this exact species. Click a plate to read the page it came from, with translation.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Falco cherrug in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Mongolia declared the saker its national bird in 2012, and in Hungary it is widely identified with the Turul, the mythical bird of the founding legend of the Magyars.
Curiosity
A Mongolian project installing thousands of artificial nests on the open steppe created a large new breeding population of sakers.
Kinship
Fact-checked: 1 correction made to this sheet. Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 4691.