Red-footed Falcon ( Falco vespertinus, family: Falconidae)
Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Western Red-footed Kestrel
The Red-footed Falcon (Latin name Falco vespertinus) is described in
Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique
Roberts number of 179 and you will find a full description of this bird
on page 551 also a picture of the Red-footed Falcon on page 529. The
Red-footed Falcon belongs to the family of birds classified as
Falconidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African
Ornithology the Red-footed Falcon is also known by these other names:
Western Red-footed Falcon, Red-legged Falcon.
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Red-footed Falcon was called the Western Red-footed Kestrel
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 Red-footed Falcon is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a rare summer resident
In terms of distribution of the Red-footed Falcon in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Red-footed Falcon : see above distribution map.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
The Red-footed Falcon is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Red-footed Falcon is about 31 cms and its weight is about 155 gms
You will find that the male Red-footed Falcon plumage and colours are different to that of the female Red-footed Falcon
- Head is blue, grey.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is grey.
- Throat is white, grey.
- Back is blue, grey.
- Legs are orange.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Red-footed Falcon feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly
Invertebrates
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Red-footed Falcon takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of Red-footed Falcon is extra limital
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Red-footed Falcon are: woodlands and grasslands . The Red-footed Falcon is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.
You will normally see the Red-footed Falcon in flocks.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Westelike Rooipootvalk
German ... Rotfufalke
Portuguese ... Falco-de-ps-vermelhos-ocidental
French ... Faucon kobez
Dutch ... Roodpootvalk, Avondvalk
First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list
For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 179
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
