![]() ![]() Wingspan undertakes conservation, education and research activities related to birds of prey found in New Zealand, and provides demonstrations of falconry. The Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre in the Ngongotahā Valley is a captive breeding facility and visitor centre. It also preys upon insects, including cicadas, beetles and dragonflies. However, it is opportunistic and will also take stoats, hares and rabbits. ![]() In common with other falcons, the prey of the New Zealand falcon is mostly other birds, such as pigeons, parakeets, seabirds and pheasants. The New Zealand falcon nests in a scrape in grassy soil or humus in various locations: under a rock on a steep slope or on a rock ledge, among epiphytic plants on a tree branch, or under a log or branch on the ground, or on bare ground, making the two or three eggs that they lay vulnerable to predators such as stray cats, stoats, weasels, possums, and wild dogs. A small population also breeds on the Auckland Islands the species is known from the Chatham Islands from fossil remains.Īn aggressive bird that displays great violence when defending its territory, the New Zealand falcon has been reported to attack dogs, as well as people.įalco novaeseelandiae eggs in the collection of Auckland Museum Breeding The New Zealand falcon is mainly found in heavy bush and the steep high country in the South Island, and is rarely seen north of a line through the central area of the North Island. (Unlike the swamp harrier, the New Zealand falcon catches other birds in flight, and rarely eats carrion.) The male is about two-thirds the weight of the female. With a wingspan between 63 cm (25 in) and 98 cm (39 in) and weight rarely exceeding 450 g (16 oz), the New Zealand falcon is slightly over half the size of the swamp harrier, which it usually attacks on sight. Conservation management had already avoided mixing of the North Island ( Falco novaeseelandiae ferox) and South Island ( Falco novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae) populations. Although neutral genetic markers show a recent history of these two forms, the substantial size difference is likely to be driven by ecological adaptation. Two forms are apparent from their significantly different sizes, with the larger race in the South Island and the smaller in the North Island. femoralis ( aplomado falcon) molecular phylogenetic studies show that it is most closely related to the aplomado falcon. deiroleucus ( orange-breasted falcon), F. ![]() Ornithologists variously described the New Zealand falcon as an aberrant hobby or as allied to three South American species – F. Latham had examined specimens both in the British Museum and in the Leverian Museum. Gmelin based his description on the "New-Zealand falcon" that had been described and illustrated in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham. He placed it with the falcons and eagles in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco novaeseelandiae. The New Zealand falcon was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. New Zealand falcon from Buller's Birds of New Zealand, 1888 Taxonomy ![]()
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