Falco cherrug
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is a large falcon species. It breeds from Central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is a partial migrant, which means that some part of the population is migratory, some part is not. In Europe, for example, a part of the juveniles are migrating, while adults are mostly resident. The European and West Asian migratory sakers spend the winter in the Sahel region. On migration, they cross the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, and Pakistan, where they are exposed to illegal trapping. The migratory birds to the east from Altai Mountains spend the winter in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
The saker falcon is the second fastest bird in level flight after the white-throated needletail swift (unconfirmed), capable of reaching 150 km/h (93 mph). It is also the third fastest animal in the world overall after the peregrine falcon and the golden eagle, with all three species capable of executing high speed dives known as "stooping", approaching 300 km/h (190 mph). The saker falcon is the national bird of Hungary, the United Arab Emirates, and Mongolia. It is called by Arabs Hur, i.e., "Free-bird", and it has been used in falconry in the Arabian Peninsula since ancient times. Saker falcons are the national bird of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Yemen and have been integral to Arab heritage and culture for over 9,000 years. They are the national emblem of many Arab countries. Wikipedia →
Flight call0:35
Mongolia · 2017
© Frank Lambert · XC412094 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Recording0:06
Russia · 2024
© Vyacheslav Luzanov · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:05
Russia · 2024
© Daba · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 2 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Saker Falcon sighting in Fertő-Hanság National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 133rd most-seen of the 207 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Saker Falcon in Fertő-Hanság National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, June–July, September and December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Saker Falcon sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Saker Falcon sightings, Fertő-Hanság National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (Mongolia, about 40%) and Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 20%).
Same genus: Falco
The closest relatives of the Saker Falcon that you can see in Fertő-Hanság National Park (genus Falco, Typical Falcons) are Common Kestrel (about 60%), Eurasian Hobby (about 20%) and Red-footed Falcon (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Saker Falcon is recorded against all the birds logged in Fertő-Hanság National Park (20 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.
