Falco mexicanus
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) is a medium-sized falcon found in Western North America. A separate species from the peregrine falcon, with which it shares some visual similarities, the prairie falcon is, essentially, an arid-climate divergence of earlier peregrine falcon lineage. It is thus able to thrive on a more meager, opportunistic diet compared to that of the peregrine, and is generally lighter in weight than a peregrine of similar wingspan. Having evolved in harsher and desert environments, often with low prey density, the prairie falcon has developed into an aggressive and opportunistic hunter of a wide range of both mammalian and avian prey, as well as occasional reptiles. It will regularly take prey from the size of sparrows or finches to birds approximately its own weight, and occasionally much larger.
The prairie falcon is the only larger falcon species native strictly to North America (others are found throughout the Americas and beyond, such as the peregrine falcon with its cosmopolitan distribution). The prairie falcon is resident from Canada (mainly Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan) through the Western United States (west of the Mississippi) and south into Northern Mexico.
Like many raptors and falconiformes, the prairie falcon is popular in falconry; with proper training and care, it is regarded as being equally as skilled as the more well-known peregrine, among others. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 12 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Birds of prey | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Ørnereservatet | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 5 | Cascades Raptor Center | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Prairie Falcon sighting in Banff National Park on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 157th most-seen of the 191 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Prairie Falcon in Banff National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Prairie Falcon sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Prairie Falcon sightings, Banff National Park ranks 11th at under 5%. The best odds are in Badlands National Park (United States, about 10%), Death Valley National Park (United States, under 5%) and Joshua Tree National Park (United States, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Prairie Falcon is recorded against all the birds logged in Banff National Park (26 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
