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Falconidae is a family of diurnal birds of prey and includes caracaras, laughing falcon, forest falcons, falconets, pygmy falcons, falcons and kestrels.They are small to medium-sized birds of prey, ranging in size from the black-thighed falconet, which can weigh as little as 35 grams (1.2 oz), to the gyrfalcon, which can weigh as much as 1,735 grams (61.2 oz).
Additionally the versatility of the species, with agility allowing capture of smaller birds and a strength and attacking style allowing capture of game much larger than themselves, combined with the wide size range of the many peregrine subspecies, means there is a subspecies suitable to almost any size and type of game bird. This size range ...
As is the case with many birds of prey, falcons have exceptional powers of vision; the visual acuity of one species has been measured at 2.6 times that of human eyes. [11] They are incredibly fast fliers, with the Peregrine falcons having been recorded diving at speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph), making them the fastest-moving creatures on Earth ...
The falcons and caracaras are around 65 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae (representing all extant species in the order Falconiformes).The family likely originated in South America during the Paleocene [1] and is divided into three subfamilies: Herpetotherinae, which includes the laughing falcon and forest falcons; Polyborinae, which includes the spot-winged ...
Although the term "bird of prey" could theoretically be taken to include all birds that actively hunt and eat other animals, [4] ornithologists typically use the narrower definition followed in this page, [5] excluding many piscivorous predators such as storks, cranes, herons, gulls, skuas, penguins, and kingfishers, as well as many primarily ...
In this list of birds by common name 11,278 extant and recently extinct (since 1500) bird species are recognised. [1] Species marked with a "†" are extinct. Contents
The species was once known as 'pigeon hawk' in North America. [11] Although the merlin's name looks and sounds like the name of the wizard Merlin prominent in Arthurian legend, the bird is not named after the wizard. [12] The wizard's name is an English cognate of the Welsh name "Myrddin" and is unrelated to the name of the bird.
About one half of bird species with fovea have a single one, but uniquely in birds, [221] some, such as terns, kingfishers and hummingbirds, have a second fovea, [222] called the temporal fovea, that assists in judging speed and distance and increases visual acuity. Birds that do not have a second fovea will sometimes bob their head to improve ...