Kirstenbosch raptor watching: any thoughts on this falcon?
While raptor watching at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens on Saturday I snapped these poor images of a large falcon. It unfortunately did not hang around and was last seen heading south in the direction of Cecilia Forest. My suspicions, and the opinions of a couple of raptor experts, point towards Eleonora’s Falcon. Does anyone else perhaps have an opinion regarding its identification?
David Winter
It looks to me like a peregrine falacon,
I am by no means an expert, especially not with tricky raptors! However, having consulted my raptor books, I would place my bet on a Lanner Falcon, maybe a juvenile? The underwing & tail are quite dark and the tail terminates in a distinct WHITE bar while Eleanor’s Falcon’s tail terminates in a DARK bar – though I’m not sure this is a great distinguishing feature! If it proves to be an Eleanor’s Falcon it will be a very rare sighting indeed! Good luck with the ID!
Saw this bird only once in my lifetime in the eastern part of Zim.It however looks very much like a Eleonoras Falcon.The long tail and the light and dark difference of the underwing.
Hello David,
It looks like a light phase Eleanora’s but there seems to be an unusual jizz. Not having seen this bird myself, of course, this could just be a visual problem.
Best regards
Paul
Thanks for your comments everyone. It seems there are a variety of views that include Eleonora’s, Lanner, European Hobby and Peregrine.
Here are some comments from the raptor guru Dick Forsman:
“I can only agree with you, that the bird in the image is a young dark morph Eleonora’s Falcon. The falcon is young because of its prominent white tail-tip and trailing edge to the wing. Identifying it as an Eleonora’s is to push it a bit, as some juv Hobbies can look extremely similar when viewed against the light and in slightly blurred images like this. However, in this case I believe, that what we see is also the actual truth.”