This post is also available in: Swedish

Red-footed falcon – Falco vespertinus

Red-footed falcon – Falco vespertinus
The red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), formerly western red-footed falcon, is a bird of prey. It belongs to the family Falconidae, the falcons. This bird is found in eastern Europe and Asia although its numbers are dwindling rapidly due to habitat loss and hunting. It is migratory, wintering in Africa. It is a medium-small, long-winged species. The adult male is all blue-grey, except for his red undertail and legs; its underwings are uniformly grey. The female has a grey back and wings, orange head and underparts, and a white face with black eye stripe and moustaches. Young birds are brown above and buff below with dark streaks, and a face pattern like the female.

The red-footed falcon tends to reside in typical steppe type habitats ranging from Eastern Europe to Lake Baikal in Central Asia. This is a diurnal bird of open country with some trees, often near water. They tend to migrate far south for the winter, including in areas of Africa.[13] The red-footed falcon tends not to make their own nests, but tend to use abandoned nests made by other birds such as the hooded crow, rook, and magpie. The nests that are chosen tend to be higher than the majority of the other nests; the nests tend to be 13–20 m (43–66 ft) above the ground and within 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft) of the tree top. Most of these nests tend to be near the edge of woods, avoiding nesting on solitary trees. Breeding takes place in these abandoned nests; usually breeding occurs colonially in rookeries because these birds tend to stay together in groups.

This is the sound
Recording by Thijs Fijen from xeno-canto