See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330564037

The Blue Vesper - Ecology and Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon

Book · January 2019

CITATIONS

0READS

209

3 authors:

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Migration and morphology of passerines View project

Red-footed falcon View project

Peter Palatitz

BirdLife Hungary

17 PUBLICATIONS   124 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Szabolcs Solt

MME BirdLife Hungary

24 PUBLICATIONS   187 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Péter Fehérvári

University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest

44 PUBLICATIONS   203 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Peter Palatitz on 23 January 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Bluethe

VesperEcology and Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon

Edited byPéter PalatitzSzabolcs Solt

Péter Fehérvári

Red-footed Falcon Conservation Workgroup

What a peculiar bird this is!Red-footed Falcons do not build nests, and their breedingcolonies resemble a noisy apartment block full of parakeets.They mostly feed on insects that they catch in mid-air likeswallows. On their way to Africa, they can fly for days onend, covering several thousands of kilometres.Photo by Bence Máté

5

Writers of chapters (No. of chapters):Krisztián Barna (17), Péter Borbáth (22, 23), Szilárd J. Daróczi (19), Lucia Deutschová (16), Zsolt Hegyeli (19), László Kotymán (22, 24), Attila Nagy (18), Michal Noga (16), Péter Palatitz (2, 3, 8, 10-15, 20, 22), Imre Sándor Piross (9), Roman Slobodnik (16), Szabolcs Solt (1, 4-7, 9, 10, 21)

Editors:Péter Palatitz, Szabolcs Solt, Péter FehérváriEditors’ advisor:Ujhelyi Péter

Translated from Hungarian to English: Gábor Papp (1, 16-19, 22-24), Anikó Zölei (2-15, 20, 21)Translated from Hungarian to Slovak: Zsolt Riflik (1), Valéria Szomolai (1-13), Hana Latková, Dáša Hoďová (14-15,17-24)

Language editing and proof reading:Hungarian: dr. Miklós Szilvási, Zsófia SümegiSlovak: Lucia Deutschová, Roman Slobodník, Boris MaderičEnglish: Dr. Zephné Bernitz BVSc (Pret)

Designed & production by Szabolcs Pálfi [k7]Illustrated by Szabolcs Kókay, Laura Somogyi, Eszter WolfPhotographers name at the pictures, Color Art by Zsolt Molnár [Dogfolio]The map database by Gergő Simon, map sources: Natural Earth, Nacis, Qgis, Nodebox

Suggested citation:The whole book: Palatitz P., Solt Sz. and Fehérvári P. (Eds.), 2018. THE BLUE VESPER. Ecology and Conservationof the Red-footed Falcon, Budapest, MME.Specific chapter: Author(s). Title of the chapter (pp.). In Palatitz P., Solt Sz. and Fehérvári P. (Eds.), 2018. THEBLUE VESPER. Ecology and Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon, Budapest, MME.

Copyright © 2018 by Péter Palatitz, Szabolcs Solt, Péter FehérváriAll rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part, in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval sys-tem now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the authors.

First published in Hungary, 2018 by MME BirdLife Hungary, Gergő Halmos director

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in 3000 copies (Hungarian, English, Slovak) with the financial support of the European CommissionLIFE Nature Fund from the project LIFE11/NAT/HU/000926 ‘Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in theCarpathian Basin’ 2012-2018

Printed and bound in Hungary

ISBN 978-615-80925-4-8www.falcoproject.eu

Preface . . . . . . . 7

1. Description . . . . . . . 9

2. Breeding and behaviour . . . . . 21

3. Habitats . . . . . . . 33

4. Nest sites and associated species . . . . 43

5. From arrival to mating . . . . . . 53

6. From egg laying to hatching . . . . . 63

7. Chick rearing . . . . . . . 73

8. Habitat use . . . . . . . 83

9. Diseases, parasites . . . . . . 93

10. Dispersion, independence, moult and post-nuptial roosting . 101

11. Post-nuptial migration . . . . . . 117

12. Wintering . . . . . . . 127

13. Pre-nuptial migration . . . . . . 135

14. Population size and trend . . . . . 147

15. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in Hungary . . 155

16. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in Slovakia . . 165

17. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in Serbia . . . 173

18. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in Western Romania . 181

19. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in the Transylvanian Basin . 191

20. Research and monitoring . . . . . 199

21. Creation and maintenance of nest sites . . . . 207

22. Establishing foraging habitats and its management directives . 215

23. Grassland management in the Hevesi Plain . . . 219

24. Protection of Red-footed Falcon habitat in the Vásárhelyi-puszta . 227

References . . . . . . 236

Acknowledgement . . . . . . 240

CONTENTS

9

Raptors, such as the Red-footed Falcon,belong to the taxonomic order Falconi-formes. Worldwide more than 300 species

of birds of prey are known to science, 36 ofwhich have been recorded in Hungary to date.Although morphologically they can be quite different, they share some common featuressuch as the hooked bill which they use to tearthe prey apart and strong feet armed with sharptalons to seize prey both in the air and on the ground. It is characteristic of all members of theorder that, although they are born with poorvision, chicks hatch with their eyes open andtheir body is covered with light down feathering.They take food from their mother’s beak fromthe very beginning, their begging behaviour firstelicited by movement and then colour of the food. Between the two well separated orders,Accipitriformes and Falconiformes, we can findnumerous basic differences: while the membersof former build their own nests, in the latter theyeither occupy other species’ nests or lay eggs onthe bare surface e.g. ground, in a hollow on arock wall or cliff ledge. Falcons and kestrels differsignificantly from the members of Accipitriformesin their build as well[45]. A further difference is

that while members of the latter kill the prey withtheir talons, falcons and kestrels usually holdtheir prey tightly in their feet and kill it using thebeak. Another striking difference is that whilehawks catch the prey with both legs, kestrels andfalcons manage to do it with one leg only.The Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinusLinnaeus1766) belongs to the family Falconidae within theorder Falconiformes. The genus name Falco orig-inates from the Latin word falx, falcis whichmeans “scythe” referring to the shape of thebird’s talons. Its species name vespertinus comesfrom another Latin word vesper meaning “night”and can be found in its foreign names (in Roma-nian: Vânturelul de seară, in Serbian: Siva vetruškanamely night falcon). This refers to its huntingbehaviour around dusk and the characteristicphenomenon when up to hundreds or even thou-sands of them gather in late summer to roosttogether. The Red-footed Falcon is a monotypicspecies. Its closest relative, the Amur Falcon(Falco amurensis), nowadays inhabits the easternparts of Asia with a well separated distribution.In the past the two species probably used tocoexist sympatrically, one of the reasons whythey were considered subspecies until as

CHAPTER 1

Description

The cere of the male is the brightest orange-red in May. Presumably these contrasting plumage and bare part orna-ments help seduce females looking for a mate.Photo by Péter Palatitz

| Szabolcs Solt

Adult male and female Red-footed Falcons can easily be distinguishedfrom every other raptor commonly seen in the Carpathian Basin basedon their plumage, orange-red feet and whitish claws.Photo by Bence Máté

Individual differencescan be described by the length of the wing**

and the forearm*.

The adult male canbe easily distin-

guished from anyother bird based onplumage colouration.

The dove sizedslim body belongsto an agile aerial

hunter.

Vision is the mostvaluable amongtheir senses, falconsmay spot almost allmovement within a

range of 3 kilometers.

Females are 20grams heavier onaverage than males.

The underbody and headof the adult female isochre-toned, but somefemales have a darkcreamy buff or rarely,rusty red colouration.

On each foot, four strongtoes bear curved talonsthat sink into larger prey to hold it tight.

Both sexes can be easily distin-guished from the CommonKestrel by the shorter tail andthe uniform coloration of bodyfeathers and underwing covers.

The flight is powerful,wing beats are often in-tercepted with glidesand thermal soaring.

Wing length

(mm

)

mean S.D. sam

ple size

♂ 241.3 1.5

81

♀ 243. 1.7

92

Win

g bo

ne le

ngth

(mm

)

mea

n

S.D

.

s

ampl

e size

♂ 258.9 5.9 81

♀ 259.4 6.9 92

Tail length (mm) mean S.D. sample size♂ 130.0 4.5 76♀ 130.0 5.1 85

* The radius and ulna measured together** Measured from the joint of the wing bone to the tip of the longer primary flight feather

Density

Mean: 142.2S.D.: ±12.5

100 120 140 160 180 200

Mean: 165.0S.D.: ±16.9

Sample size:

81Sample size:

92

Weight (g)

The tomial tooth of theupper mandible helpsto snap the vertebra of

the prey.

The Red-footed falconFalco vespertinus

View publication statsView publication stats