There are roughly 40 subspecies under the falcon species, and although falcons all fall under the same genus title Falco, we can actually separate the subspecies into three or four distinctive groups, the Kestrels, the Hobbies and relatives, the Peregrine falcon and its relatives, and the Hierofalcons. However, other people believe that male falcons originally got the name third because they’re one-third smaller than female falcons.

Male falcons got the names tercel and tiercel because people once believed that of all the eggs a female falcon laid, only one in every three would be a male. Falcons get their genus name, Falco, from the Late Latin words falx and falcis, which simply refer to the bird’s long and curved claws.Īlthough you may just know falcons as falcons, males actually have their own name, tercel or tiercel, which comes from the Latin word tertius, meaning third. The falcon is a bird of prey that belongs to the genus Falco which a Swedish naturalist first introduced in 1758. Paleontologists have found falcon fossils dating back less than 10 million years ago, and although that seems like an incredibly long time, other birds of prey date back even further.īy considering the locations where scientists found the fossils, they believe that the falcon originally came from North America, Africa, the Middle East, or Europe however, pinpointing exactly where the species came from is a much harder task than it seems.īeing a bird of prey, you’d think that falcons were most closely related to other birds of prey, like eagles, ospreys, or hawks, right? Well, actually, the falcon’s nearest relatives are songbirds and parrots, which is strange because these species have very different diets, behaviors, and habitats. Growing up in the UK, we don’t really see many predatory birds, so seeing a falcon swopping and clawing onto its prey mid-air really is an impressive sight to see.įalcons live in areas all over the planet, and from the small American kestrel to the massive Gyrfalcon, all falcons are a spectacular work of nature, and they deserve to be spoken about. I’ve seen a few falcons in my time, and my dad particularly likes to spot them out with his binoculars in hand.

Falcon ag design