Falco rusticolus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The gyrfalcon ( or ) (Falco rusticolus), also abbreviated as gyr, is a bird of prey and the largest species in the falcon family, Falconidae. A high-latitude species, the gyrfalcon breeds on the Arctic coasts and tundra, the islands of northern North America and Siberia, where it is mainly a resident species. Some gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season or in winter, and individual vagrancy can take birds for long distances. Its plumage varies with location, with birds being coloured from all-white to dark grey-brown. These colour variations are called morphs. Like other falcons, it shows sexual dimorphism, with the female much larger than the male.
For centuries, the gyrfalcon has been valued as a hunting bird. Typical prey includes the ptarmigan and waterfowl, which it may attack in flight; and it also hunts fish and small mammals. The gyrfalcon was formally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Falco rusticolus. The genus name is the Late Latin term for a falcon, Falco, from falx a sickle, referencing the talons of the bird. The species name is... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Gyrfalcon sighting in Denali National Park on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 30th most-seen of the 113 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Gyrfalcon in Denali National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March and May, the lowest months. That is one of Denali National Park's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain against 190 mm in August. November to February have too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gyrfalcon sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Denali National Park, in our data
Denali National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Gyrfalcon sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gyrfalcon is recorded against all the birds logged in Denali National Park (13 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.
