Sooty Falcon
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae Genus: Falco Species: F. concolor
Binomial name
Falco concolor Temminck, 1825
Global range. Orange dots: Breeding colonies Blue: Wintering range

The Sooty Falcon (Falco concolor ) is a medium-sized falcon breeding from northeastern Africa to the southern Persian Gulf region. It belongs to the hobby group, a rather close-knit number of similar falcons often considered a subgenus Hypotriorchis. Eleonora's Falcon is sometimes considered its closest relative, but while they certainly belong to the same lineage, they do not seem to be closesister species^[1].

This is is an elegant bird of prey, 32-37 cm long with a 78-90 cm wingspan. It is shaped like a largeHobby or a small Eleonora's Falcon, with its long pointed wings, long tail and slim body. The adults are blue-grey, and lack the black underwing coverts of the Eleonora’s Falcon. The young bird is like a large juvenile Hobby, or small juvenile Eleanora’s Falcon. Its dark trailing edge to the wings and tail distinguish it from the former species, and it lacks the underwing contrast caused by the dark coverts of the larger falcon.

This species breeds on islands and coastal or desert cliffs in northeast Africa from Libya to Israel and the Red Sea. It is a long-distance migrant, wintering in east Africa and south to Madagascar. It is a rare vagrant north of its breeding range.

The Sooty Falcon eats mainly birds, but it will take large insects, such as dragonflies, which are transferred from talons to beak and eaten in flight. It nests on a ledge or on rocks, laying up to foureggs.

It was formerly classified as a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN^[2]. But new research has shown it to be rarer than it was believed. Consequently, it is uplisted to Near Threatened status in 2008^[3].