Breeding Location:
Open landscapes, Rocky cliffs
Breeding Type:
Monogamous, Solitary nester
Breeding Population:
Uncommon to fairly common
Egg Color:
White, heavily marked with brown and purple
Number of Eggs:
4 - 5
Incubation Days:
29 - 33
Egg Incubator:
Female
Nest Material:
Abandoned nests.
Migration:
Nonmigratory
Recommended Products:
General
Prairie Falcon: Medium-sized falcon with brown upperparts, dark-spotted pale underparts, and dark brown moustache stripe. Dark underwing-bars are visible in flight. Sexes are similar.
Range and Habitat
Prairie Falcon: Breeds from British Columbia and the Canadian prairie provinces south to Mexico and northern Texas. Spends winters in breeding range and sparingly farther east. Preferred habitats include barren mountains, dry plains, and prairies.
Breeding and Nesting
Prairie Falcon: Four to five white eggs, heavily marked with brown and purple, are laid in a scrape of loose dirt on a cliff ledge, cave, or crevice, or sometimes in an abandoned nest of another species. Incubation ranges from 29 to 31 days and is carried out mainly by the female.
Foraging and Feeding
Prairie Falcon: Diet consists mainly of birds, which it pursues on the wing but usually captures on or near the ground. Also feeds on small mammals such as prairie dogs and young rabbits.
Vocalization
Prairie Falcon: Generally silent, but will emit a loud "kree-kree-kree" near the nest.
Similar Species
Prairie Falcon: Merlin is much smaller, has a less distinct moustache stripe, more strongly barred tail, and lacks distinctive black mark on underwings. Peregrine Falcon lacks pale stripe behind eye, has thicker moustache stripe, wings that reach tail tip at rest, and lacks black underwing patches.
.