Peregrine Falcon

Critiques [Translate]

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• Okan (518)
• [2005-06-27 3:20]

Hello Ali, I think that this is not a peregrine falcon. It is looking like a Lanner (falco biarmicus) because of its pale face, long and pointed moustache, light reddish nape and longer tail comparing with the tip of the wing.
The pose is a bit overposed, all the best.

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• Merlin (1094)
• [2005-09-06 9:20]

It's probably a juvenile Barbary Falcon or Red-naped Shaheen (but see below). There is still some dispute as to whether this deserves the fully specific name Falco pelegrinoides or is just a desert-adapted race of the Peregrine (F. peregrinus).

Pale, sandy colouration and comparatively narrow malar stripe are diagnostic of pelegrinoides, but given the overexposure, this bird could possibly be a pale specimen of Falco peregrinus brookei, which is intermediate between the "normal" peregrine forms and the Shahin/Barbary types.

Both Falco peregrinus brookei and F. pelegrinoides have reddish colouration on the head and neck, as do some juvenile nominate race Peregrines (but to a lesser degree).

It seems to have some aviary wire damage to its cere (or perhaps has avian pox).