Date: 5/19/26 6:22 pm From: 'Tony Leukering' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] ID help please! Juvie Peregrine or a Prairie Falcon?
All:
My Brit friend is confused by the bird in the photos:
" The pictures are just awkward enough to create some uncertainty. The
shape of the malar looks blobby and round-ended; it looks odd to me for
Hobby, but I have no explanation for what it could be. Bill is small on
Hobby."
If we rule out Eurasian Hobby, what about other falcons not on the CO state
list? Aplomado doesn't work at all. Juvenile Red-footed Falcon doesn't
sport so much black on the face. And none of Oriental Falcon, Bat Falcon,
and Orange-breasted Falcon looks anything like the Weld bird, even as juvs.
And that's the end of the list of even remotely possible wild occurrences
by *Falco* species not on the ABA-Area list. And it doesn't look like a
juvenile Eleonora's Falcon (a beast I'd really like to see due to its
hunting habits; Eleonora's falcon - Wikipedia
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleonora%27s_falcon> ).
It still looks more like a hobby than any other falcon I've seen, and if
the bird is not a Eurasian Hobby, then we might need to think about what
odd hybrids falconers may have created that might match this bird's
appearance.
Enjoy,
Tony Leukering
Cut Bank, MT
On Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 5:55:02 PM UTC-6 Tony Leukering wrote:
> Note that the wingtips extend beyond the tail tip, a feature not true for
> Prairie or Peregrine, particularly for the shorter-winged juveniles.
>
> Tony Leukering
>
> On Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 5:35:36 PM UTC-6 Tony Leukering wrote:
>
>> As suggested to me by Dave Leatherman, that looks more like an Eurasian
>> Hobby. I've sent a screen grab to a Brit friend in Connecticut for his
>> opinion.
>>
>> Tony Leukering
>> Cut Bank, MT
>>
>> On Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 4:25:47 PM UTC-6 Peter Ruprecht wrote:
>>
>>> I'd go with immature Peregrine. The malar is too wide for a Prairie, and
>>> I'd expect a Prairie of any age to have a more distinct light supercilium.
>>>
>>> Peter Ruprecht
>>> Superior
>>>
>>> On Tue, May 19, 2026 at 3:37 PM <jay......> wrote:
>>>
>>>> All:
>>>>
>>>> I'm a bit stumped on this ID. Seen this morning in a filed just north
>>>> of Union Res in Weld Co. Bird was sitting in the field for 10+minutes and
>>>> I got a few pics from scope.
>>>>
>>>> So I figure it's either a juvenille Peregrine or a Prairie Falcon.
>>>> Obvious dark mustache, white cheeks and throat.
>>>>
>>>> Please comment away!
>>>>
>>>> Jay Hutchins
>>>> Longmont
>>>>
>>>> [image: image0.jpeg][image: image1.jpeg][image: image2.jpeg][image:
>>>> image3.jpeg]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
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