Lanner Falcon

The Lanner Falcon is found across much of Africa, into the Middle East and parts of southeastern Europe, favoring open country from savanna to mountain crags and farmland. It is a mid-sized falcon, slimmer than a Saker but built along similar lines for fast open-country flight.

Its feathers are moderately common finds beneath cliff-nesting sites or perches in open habitat within its range, and the combination of a rufous-tinged crown feather alongside blue-grey back feathers is a useful clue.

IUCN status: Least Concern, though some regional declines have been noted.

Recognizing Lanner Falcon feathers

• Flight feathers: Blue-grey above with narrow dark barring, pointed tips typical of fast-flying falcons.
• Tail feathers: Grey with fine dark banding, squared tip.
• Body feathers: Back and mantle feathers slate blue-grey; crown feathers distinctively rufous to chestnut, a feature that helps separate this species from similar falcons; underside feathers pale cream with fine dark streaking, lighter and less blotchy than a Saker's.
• Shaft color: Pale grey-brown.
• Compared to similar species: The rufous crown feather is a strong distinguishing clue absent in Peregrine and Saker Falcons; overall smaller and finer-streaked below than a Saker Falcon.

Adults show a blue-grey back, a rufous or chestnut crown and nape, and a fairly bold dark mustache stripe against a pale face. Underparts are cream to buffy-white with light, fine streaking, becoming sparser on the belly. Juveniles are browner above with heavier streaking below, molting toward the cleaner adult pattern over one to two years.

Occupies open savanna, farmland, semi-desert, and mountainous terrain across sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, and locally in southeastern Europe. Largely resident, though some populations show local or altitudinal movements outside the breeding season.

Hunts birds in fast, agile flight, often working in pairs to flush and chase prey over open ground, and also takes insects and small mammals. Nests on cliff ledges or in old stick nests of other birds. Vocalizations include harsh, repeated cackling near the nest site. A blue-grey feather with a rufous-toned crown feather nearby, found near a rocky nesting cliff in open African or Mediterranean country, points strongly to this species.