Falco subniger
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The black falcon (Falco subniger) is a medium-large falcon that is endemic to Australia. It can be found in all mainland states and territories and yet is regarded as Australia's most under-studied falcon. Size (adult, beak to tail): 45 – 56 cm (average 50 cm), tail makes up about half the length. Note: Females are larger than males - this is a form of sexual dimorphism.
Average weight: 833 g (female) 582 g (male). Wing span: 95 –115 cm. Colouration is uniform dark brown to sooty black; juveniles are generally darker than adults; underwing feathers are two-tone (flight feathers slightly paler); adults may have an evident dark stripe below the eye. Occasionally the birds may have a white chin, spots on underwing coverts or bars on undertail coverts. Cere, eye ring and feet are pale grey (or pale blue-grey); eye is dark brown and beak tip is black. Talons are black. Chick is white down.
The falcon's body is streamlined with a relatively long tail and slim build. Wings are long and pointed... Wikipedia →
Call1:02
Australia · 2020
© Marc Anderson · XC679529 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black Falcon sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 221st most-seen of the 236 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black Falcon in Melbourne on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Falcon sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Melbourne, in our data
Melbourne is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Black Falcon sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Falcon is recorded against all the birds logged in Melbourne (11 verified sightings), 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.
