The Grey Falcon, Falco hypoleucos, is a rare medium-sized falcon

Falcon

A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....

, one of the enigmatic ‘mystery’ birds of Australia, neither easily nor predictably seen.

Description

Mainly grey upperparts and white underparts; darker on the tips of the flight feathers; yellow cere. Body length 30–45 cm; wingspan 85–95 cm; weight 350-600 g. Females larger.

Distribution and habitat

The Grey Falcon is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n endemic, usually confined to the arid inland. Open country: Triodia grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

, Acacia shrubland

Shrubland

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...

, and lightly timbered arid woodland.

Conservation

It is found at very low densities, numbering only 1,000 breeding pairs, and the population may be stable. Continued high levels of grazing in arid zone rangelands and clearance of the semi-arid zone for marginal farming is degrading habitat.

Australia

Grey Falcon are not listed as threatened on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and culturally significant places...

.

State of Victoria, Australia

• The Grey Falcon is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988). Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared.

• On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, The Grey Falcon is listed as endangered.

State of Queensland, Australia

• The Grey Falcon is listed as rare under the Nature Conservation Act 1992
  Nature Conservation Act 1992
  The Nature Conservation Act 1992 is an act of the Parliament of Queensland that provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it provided for biota to be declared presumed extinct, endangered, vulnerable, rare or common...
  
  .

Diet

Mainly bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s, especially parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

s; also small mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s, reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s and insects.

Sources

• BirdLife International. (2006). Species factsheet: Falco hypoleucos. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 9/12/2006
• Marchant, S.; & Higgins, P.J. (Eds). (1993). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds
  Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds
  The Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, known as HANZAB, is the pre-eminent scientific reference on Birds in the region, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the surrounding ocean and islands...
  
  . Vol,2: Raptors to Lapwings. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0-19-553069-1