Taita Falcon ( Falco fasciinucha, family: Falconidae)
The Taita Falcon (Latin name Falco fasciinucha) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 176 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 559 also a picture of the Taita Falcon on page 529. The Taita Falcon belongs to the family of birds classified as Falconidae.
The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps
The Taita Falcon is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.
In terms of distribution of the Taita Falcon in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Taita Falcon has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
The Taita Falcon is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Taita Falcon is about 28 cms and its weight is about 220 gms
The male and female Taita Falcon have the same plumage and colours
- Head is cinnamon.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is grey.
- Throat is white.
- Back is chestnut.
- Legs are grey.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Taita Falcon feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly
Other Birds
Invertebrates
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Taita Falcon is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Falco fasciinucha will seek out a new mate
The nesting habit of Taita Falcon is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 3 to 4
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Taita Falcon are: grasslands
You can see Taita Falcon in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Taitavalk
German ... Kurzschwanzfalke
Portuguese ... Falco de Taita
French ... Faucon taita
Dutch ... Taita-Valk
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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 176
The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za
