Falco concolor
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The sooty falcon (Falco concolor) is a medium-sized falcon, breeding from northeastern Africa to the southern Persian Gulf region, and wintering in East Africa (Mozambique, eastern South Africa) and Madagascar. The Sooty Falcon is part of the order Falconiformes, family Falconidae and genus Falco. The sooty falcon belongs to the hobby group, a rather close-knit number of similar falcons often considered a subgenus Falco. Eleonora's falcon F. eleonorae is sometimes considered its closest relative, but while they certainly belong to the same clade, they may not be direct sister species, with F. concolor possibly closer to Eurasian hobby F. subbuteo and African hobby F. cuvieri than it is to Eleonora's falcon.
This is an elegant bird of prey, 32–37 cm long with a 78–90 cm wingspan. It is shaped like a large Eurasian hobby or a small Eleonora's falcon, with its long pointed wings, long tail and slim body. The adults are blue-grey, and lack the black underwing coverts of the Eleonora's falcon. The young bird is like a large juvenile hobby, or small juvenile Eleanora's falcon. Its dark trailing edge to the wings and tail distinguish it from the former species... Wikipedia →
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Saudi Arabia · 2021
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 4 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Falcon sighting in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 368th most-seen of the 424 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 Sooty Falcon in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sooty 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.
5th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Sooty Falcon sightings, Murchison Falls National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Ankarafantsika National Park (Madagascar, about 10%), Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, under 5%) and Mantadia National Park (Madagascar, under 5%).
Same genus: Falco
The closest relatives of the Sooty Falcon that you can see in Murchison Falls National Park (genus Falco, Typical Falcons) are Grey Kestrel (about 50%) and Red-necked Falcon (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sooty Falcon is recorded against all the birds logged in Murchison Falls National Park (9 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.
