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Falco rusticolus

(Gyrfalcon, Gyrfalcon)

Overview:

Conservation Status

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Population Analysis

  • For the 56,576 species in the Class Aves (Birds), we average 371.87 observations each in our database; for the Gyrfalcon, we have 1,599 observations. Compared to other species in this Class, this species is somewhat common.
  • A two-sample t-test can be used to determine whether the trend in observations of the Gyrfalcon is the same as the trend in observations of Aves. Is this species just as common, as a proportion of all observations, as it once was? The answer is no, changes in observation rate of this species significantly differ from changes in observation rate of its Class. (t=3.963, p<0.001)
  • How do observation rates of the Gyrfalcon differ from those of Aves? To answer this, we examined the percentage of observerations for Aves that were observations of the Gyrfalcon each year. We then correlated this percentage with observation year. If observations of the Gyrfalcon are becoming more common relative to other species of Aves, the correlation should be positive, but if it is becoming less common, the correlation should be negative. In fact, the correlation is negative (r=-.1), with a negative slope (m = -.000), suggesting that the Gyrfalcon may be in decline relative to other species of Aves. This correlation is statistically significant. (F = 104.07, p<.05)
  • The scatter chart to the right shows the percentage of all observations for Aves each year that were observations of the Gyrfalcon.

History:

  • 1988-Near-threatened (Collar and Andrew 1988)
  • 1994-Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004)
  • 2000-Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2000)

Justification

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 10,000¿100,000 individuals (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001). Global population trends have not been quantified, but populations appear to be stable (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001) so the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Taxonomy

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  • Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
    • Kingdom: Animalia Linnaeus, 1758 - Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
      • Subkingdom: Bilateria (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians

Unambiguous Synonyms:

  1. Falco rusticolus subsp. obsoletus (Gmelin, 1788)
  2. Falco rusticolus subsp. rusticolus Linnaeus, 1758
  3. Falco rusticolus subsp. uralensis (Severzov & Menzbir, 1882)

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 13-Apr-2005

Physical Description

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Adult Gray Morph:

Face: Cere: yellow Eye Ring: yellow Body: Upperparts: whitish with heavy to light mottling Legs: Foot Color: yellow Leg Color: yellow.

Size/Age/Growth:

About 20 to 25 inches long, with a wingspan of 48 to 64 inches. Adults weigh about 41.6 ounces.

Images:

Distribution

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Range and Population

Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China); North America

Diet

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Mostly:

Birds Small Mammals

Reproduction

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  • Clutch Size: 3-4
  • Length of Incubation: 34-36 days
  • Days to Fledge: 49-56
  • Number of Broods: 1

Migration

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Nonmigratory

Similar Species

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Peregrine Falcon

Members of the genus Autochton:

There are approximately 369 species and subspecies in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: A. aerofuscus · A. agathokles · A. ammon · A. assaracus · A. aunus · A. bipunctatus · A. bocus · A. brontes · A. capys · A. cellus (Golden Banded-Skipper) · A. cincta (Chisos Banded-Skipper) · A. cinctus (Chisos Banded-Skipper) · A. dhega · A. electrus · A. festus · A. integrifascia · A. isokrates · A. itylus · A. jao · A. leilae · A. longipennis (Sharp Banded-Skipper) · A. lunulus · A. mexicana · A. neis (Broad Banded-Skipper) · A. orontes · A. pseudocellus (Sonoran Banded-Skipper) · A. punctisignatus · A. reflexus · A. rotundatus · A. sulfureolus · A. vectilucis · A. zarex · A. zonilis · Falco abyssinicus · Falco aesalon · Falco albicans · Falco albigularis · Falco alfred-edmundi · Falco alopex (Fox Kestrel) · Falco alopex alopex · Falco amurensis (Amur Falcon) · Falco apoxypterus · Falco araeus (Seychelles Kestrel) · Falco ardesiaca · Falco ardosiaceus (Grey Kestrel) · Falco atriceps · Falco augur · Falco aurantius · Falco aurantuis · Falco axillaris · Falco babylonicus · Falco barbarus · Falco barbarus arabicus · Falco berigora (Brown Falcon) · Falco berigora berigora · Falco berigora centralia · Falco berigora novaeguineae · Falco berigora occidentalis · Falco berigora tasmanica · Falco berigora tasmanicus · Falco biarmicus (Lanner Falcon) · Falco biarmicus abyssinicus · Falco biarmicus biarmicus · Falco biarmicus erlangeri · Falco biarmicus feldeggi · Falco biarmicus feldeggii · Falco biarmicus tanypterus · Falco biarmicux · Falco bido · Falco brookei · Falco caligatus · Falco candicans · Falco cassini · Falco caucasicus · Falco cenchris pekinensis · Falco cenchroides (Australian Falcon) · Falco cenchroides cenchroides · Falco cenechroides · Falco cherrug (Saker Falcon) · Falco cherrug altaicus · Falco cherrug cherrug · Falco cherrug coatsi · Falco cherrug cyanopus · Falco cherrug hendersoni · Falco cherrug miluipes · Falco cherrug milvipes · Falco cherrug; · Falco cherug · Falco cherug cherug · Falco chicguera · Falco chicquera (Red-Necked Falcon) · Falco chicquera chicquera · Falco chicquera horsbrughi · Falco chicquera ruficollis · Falco chiquera · Falco christiani-ludovici · Falco cineraceus · Falco cinnamamina · Falco columbarius (Merlin) · Falco columbarius aesalon (Merlin)

Bibliography

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  • Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
  • Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
  • BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
  • Collar, N.J. and Andrew, P. 1988. Birds to Watch. The ICBP World Checklist of Threatened Birds. ICBP Technical Publication No. 8. Page Bros. (Norwich) Ltd, Norfolk, England.
  • Dickinson, E. C., ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checlist of the Birds of the World, 3rd edition. Princeton University Press. Princeton, New Jersey, USA. 1039. ISBN: 0-691-11701-2.
  • Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
  • Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors:

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

  • Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
  • Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
  • Avian Knowledge Network: Hawk Migration Association of North America - HawkCount
  • Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
  • Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen: Biologiezentrum Linz
  • Bird Studies Canada: BC Coastal Waterbird Survey
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: North West Territories and Nunavut Bird Checklist, Canada
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds (Aves)
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal British Columbia Museum
  • Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
  • EMAN Provider: PIROP (Shipboard Surveys)
  • European Environment Agency: EUNIS
  • Finnish Museum of Natural History: Hatikka Observation Data Gateway
  • GBIF-Sweden: Birds (GBIF-SE:Artdatabanken)
  • Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Bay of Fundy Species List (OBIS Canada)
  • Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Ornithology Collection
  • Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
  • New Brunswick Museum: NBM birds
  • UK National Biodiversity Network: Argyll Bird Club - Bird records for Argyll for the years 2002 and 2003
  • University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers:

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Last Revised: March 31, 2008