![]() It represents lineages that expanded into the Holarctic and adapted to local conditions this is in contrast to less northerly populations of northeastern Africa (where the radiation probably originated) that evolved into the saker falcon. The radiation of the entire living diversity of hierofalcons took place around the Eemian Stage at the start of the Late Pleistocene. In this group, ample evidence indicates hybridisation and incomplete lineage sorting, which confounds analyses of DNA sequence data to a massive extent. The gyrfalcon is a member of the hierofalcon complex. Systematics and evolution Hybrid white gyrfalcon × saker A color variety that arose in captive breeding is "black chick". The black color seems to be sex-linked and to occur mostly in females it proved difficult for breeders to get males darker than the dark side of slate grey. The species shows no sex-based colour differences juveniles are darker and browner than adults. Silver gyrfalcons resemble a light grey lanner falcon of larger size. White form gyrfalcons are the only predominantly white falcons. The black morph has a strongly black-spotted underside, rather than finely barred as in the peregrine. ![]() The brown form of the gyrfalcon is distinguished from the peregrine by the cream streaking on the nape and crown and by the absence of a well-defined malar stripe and cap. The archetypal morphs are called "white", "silver", "brown", and "black", though they can be coloured on a spectrum from all-white to very dark. The gyrfalcon is a very polymorphic species, so its plumage varies greatly. It differs from the buzzard in general structure, having pointed wings. The gyrfalcon is larger, broader-winged and longer-tailed than the peregrine falcon, which it is known to compete with (and occasionally hunt). An outsized female from eastern Siberia was found to have scaled 2,600 g (5 lb 12 oz). Males are 48 to 61 centimetres (19 to 24 inches) long, weigh 805 to 1,350 grams (1 pound 12 + 1⁄ 2 ounces to 2 pounds 15 + 1⁄ 2 ounces), with average weights reported as 1,130 or 1,170 g (2 lb 8 oz or 2 lb 9 + 1⁄ 2 oz) and have a wingspan from 110 to 130 cm (43 to 51 in). The gyrfalcon is the largest falcon in the world, being about the same size as the largest buteos (buzzards) but probably slightly heavier. The male gyrfalcon is called a gyrkin in falconry. modern German Geier ultimately from Proto-Germanic * girį̄ ("greed")) for " vulture", referring to its size in comparison with other falcons or from the Latin gȳrus for "circle" or "curved path", in turn from the Ancient Greek γῦρος, gûros, meaning "circle" – from the species' circling as it searches for prey, distinct from the hunting of other falcons in its range. The first part of the word may come from Old High German gîr ( cf. ![]() The bird's common name comes from French gerfaucon in Medieval Latin, it is gyrofalco. The species name is from the Latin rusticolus, a countryside-dweller, from rus, "country" and colere, "to dwell". The genus name is the Late Latin term for a falcon, Falco, from falx a sickle, referencing the talons of the bird. The gyrfalcon was formally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Falco rusticolus. Typical prey includes the ptarmigan and waterfowl, which it may take in flight it also takes fish and mammals. For centuries, the gyrfalcon has been valued as a hunting bird. Like other falcons, it shows sexual dimorphism, with the female much larger than the male. These colour variations are called morphs. Its plumage varies with location, with birds being coloured from all-white to dark brown. Individual vagrancy can take birds for long distances. It is mainly a resident there also, but some gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter. It breeds on Arctic coasts and tundra, and the islands of northern North America and the Eurosiberian region. ![]() The gyrfalcon ( / ˈ dʒ ɜːr ˌ f ɔː( l) k ən/ or / ˈ dʒ ɜːr ˌ f æ l k ən/) ( Falco rusticolus), the largest of the falcon species, is a bird of prey.
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