How to Identify Prairie Falcon Feathers

What Prairie Falcon Feathers Look Like

Prairie Falcon is a medium-large falcon of open western landscapes, and its upperpart feathers are pale grayish-brown to sandy brown, notably paler and less contrasty than many other falcons, an adaptation for blending with dry, open prairie and desert terrain. Underpart feathers are whitish to pale buff with sparse, fairly narrow dark brown streaking or spotting on the breast and flanks, a more lightly marked underside than Peregrine Falcon. The single most useful diagnostic feather group, if available, is the underwing covert and axillary ("wingpit") area: these feathers are solidly dark blackish-brown, contrasting sharply with paler flight feathers, a bold dark wingpit patch essentially unique among regularly occurring falcons in the same range. Facial feathers show a mustache mark that is narrower and less bold than a Peregrine's. Flight feathers run about 8.5-10 inches, with a fairly heavy shaft reflecting the powerful, direct flight style typical of open-country falcons.

Step-by-Step: Is This Feather From a Prairie Falcon?

• Check underwing coverts and axillaries first, if available. A solid dark blackish-brown patch is the single best diagnostic for this species.
• Check upperpart color. Pale sandy-brown, lighter than Peregrine Falcon's blue-gray tones.
• Check breast and flank streaking. Sparse and narrow, rather than the bold, heavy barring of an adult Peregrine.
• Check the mustache mark. Narrower, less bold black stripe below the eye compared with Peregrine's broad black "sideburn."
• Measure. Medium-large falcon flight feathers, 8.5-10 inches.

Similar Species & How to Tell Them Apart

Peregrine Falcon has darker blue-gray upperparts, a bold thick black mustache mark, and heavier barring on the underparts overall, but lacks the solid dark underwing-covert patch that Prairie Falcon shows so distinctly. Gyrfalcon is much larger overall with more variable plumage (gray, white, or dark morphs) and no dark axillary patch equivalent to Prairie Falcon's. American Kestrel is much smaller with a rufous-red back and tail — kestrels have reddish backs, unlike Prairie Falcon's uniform sandy-brown, an easy size and color separation.

Where & When You'll Find Them

Prairie Falcon breeds on cliffs and rock outcrops across arid grassland, shrub-steppe, and desert of the western U.S. and northern Mexico, preying heavily on ground squirrels and other small mammals of open country. Non-migratory to short-distance migratory depending on population, so feathers can be found year-round near nesting cliffs and open foraging grounds, with a molt-related peak in late summer after the breeding season when adults replace worn flight feathers near nest cliffs and favored perches. Plucking sites below regularly used hunting perches are another good place to check, since Prairie Falcons often carry prey to a favored rock or post to eat.