Red-footed Falcon

Falco vespertinus

Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Cernícalo patirrojo

Photograph: Mourad Harzallah, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 28–34 cm
Wingspan: 65–76 cm
Weight: 145–165 g

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. One male on 21.04.75 at Gibraltar.

Identification

Similar to a Hobby. Males are dark blue-grey, unmottled, with red undertail-coverts, legs, cere and eye-ring. Females have rufous-buff head and underparts which are diffusely streaked and blue-grey upperparts with dark barring. Juveniles are similar to those of the Hobby but with brownish crown and nape, greyishbrown barred upperparts, white undertail coverts and barred tail. They breed in Eastern Europe.

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

50 %

Peak in May. 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: 29 April 2008
Latest record: 24 September 2024

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: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: NE · Not evaluated · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): VU · Vulnerable

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

Eurasian Hobby28–35 cm · Migrant · overlapping size
Lesser Kestrel29–32 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size
Merlin25–30 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size
Common Kestrel33–39 cm · Resident · overlapping size
Eleonora’s Falcon36–42 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: 2481062

Sources

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

Red-footed Falcon

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery