Browsing through photos on Wikimedia Commons, this portrait of a falcon caught my eye.  He’s one of six species of falcons found in Australia, new to me because he doesn’t occur in North America.  The only falcon we all have in common is the peregrine.

The brown falcon (Falco berigora) is slightly smaller than a peregrine and has a different lifestyle.  Rather than capture prey in the air he uses a perch-and-pounce method to capture small mammals, lizards and snakes, small birds, and insects.  This is similar to the red-tailed hawk’s hunting technique.

Brown falcons don’t need to fly fast.  Their wing beats are slow and they glide in a shallow V the way northern harriers do.

Though they share characteristics with hawks, Perth Raptor Care says they have a lot of personality.  Click here for a video at Arkive.org that gives you a window on the lives of brown falcons: contending with crows, sharing with a mate, feeding the “kids.”

I love their brown pantaloons.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)