Birds · Falconiformes · Falconidae

Bat Falcon

Falco rufigularis

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The bat falcon is a small, compact falcon, black with a white or orange throat and breast and a finely barred belly. It hunts at dawn and dusk, in the half-light, taking advantage of the mass emergence of bats from their roosts and of the flight of swifts and swallows. It watches from the crown of an emergent tree or from an aerial and dives at great speed.

Weight

129 g – 202 g

Size

23 cm – 30 cm

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

RainforestCarnivore Diurnal In pairs Bird Rainforest

19countries 72parks10same family

Fun facts

It is a specialist of the half-light: it hunts in the twenty or thirty minutes of dusk when the bats come out and the swifts are still flying, a narrow window that almost no other raptor exploits.
It has adapted well to tropical cities, where it hunts over the bat colonies that occupy buildings and beneath the street lights that concentrate insects and the animals that prey on them.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Forest edges, clearings, riverbanks and wooded urban areas of tropical America
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 31 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 3 eggs

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falco_rufigularis