Lanner Falcon

Falco biarmicus

Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Presence in the Strait: Occasional
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Halcón borní

Photograph: Christiaan Viljoen, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 43–52 cm
Wingspan: 95–115 cm
Weight: 550–800 g

Presence in the Strait

Occasional.

Identification

The size of a Peregrine but slimmer and generally paler, with dark eye stripe, finely spotted breast instead of barring and blue-grey upperparts. Rusty nape and crown in males, buff in females. Juveniles have streaked belly and breast, similar to a juvenile Hobby.

Movements

Usually juvenile dispersion, probably from colonies in Morocco (subspecies F. b. erlangeri). Most sightings are between April and October, with peaks in May and September.

Ring recoveries

Bird ringed on 15.05.92 at Ceuta, controlled twelve days later in Morocco, 331 Km. away.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

67 %

Peak in April. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 10 April 1928
Latest record: 1 April 2022

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: RE · Regionally extinct · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Peregrine Falcon39–50 cm · Resident · overlapping size
Saker Falcon47–55 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size
Eleonora’s Falcon36–42 cm · Migrant
Common Kestrel33–39 cm · Resident
Eurasian Hobby28–35 cm · Migrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
GBIF taxon key: 8014966

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Christiaan Viljoen, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Lanner Falcon

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery