Falcons and Caracaras
Falconidae
The falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae. The family is divided into two subfamilies, Polyborinae, which includes the caracaras and forest falcons, and Falconinae, the falcons, kestrels and falconets (Microhierax and Spiziapteryx). They differ from the eagles of Accipitridae, in that falcons kill with their beaks instead of their taloned feet. They have a "tooth" on the side of their beak for this purpose.
10 branches of this family, most-observed first · about 63 known species
Typical Falcons
genusFalco
Crested Caracaras
genusCaracara
Daptrius Caracaras
genusDaptrius
Herpetotheres
genusHerpetotheres
Forest-Falcons
genusMicrastur
Asian Falconets
genusMicrohierax
Ibycter
genusIbycter
Polihierax
genusPolihierax
Spot-winged Falconets
genusSpiziapteryx
Neohierax
genusNeohierax
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Falconidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 4637.