Sooty Falcon

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Falconidae: falcons and kestrels 255 Sooty Falcon 14˚ Roetvalk SOOTY FALCON Falco concolor 1 5 The Sooty Falcon is a migrant from breeding 18˚ grounds in the eastern Sahara and Arabian Peninsula to Madagascar and southern Africa. Its presence in southern Africa was recognized as recently as the 1960s (Clancey 1969a), before 22˚ which it was thought that all Sooty Falcons 6 migrated to Madagascar. In southern Africa it 2 favours tropical and subtropical habitats, in stark contrast to the open desert areas in which it 26˚ breeds. The majority of atlas and other sightings in the region are from coastal KwaZulu-Natal, but increasing numbers of records are reported from 3 7 elsewhere in southern Africa. In addition to the 30˚ present map, the species has also been recorded near Njuga Hills (2024B) in Botswana in De- cember 1988 (Herremans et al. 1993a). It is 4 8 likely to be comparatively abundant in Mozam- 34˚ bique and is probably more regular and wide- 18˚ 22˚ 26˚ spread in southern Africa than the few atlas and 10˚ 14˚ 30˚ 34˚ other records suggest. It is seldom conspicuous, spending much of the day roosting within the foliage of large trees. Most sightings are in the late afternoon and early evening when it hunts insects, bats and small birds. Its fast flight in poor light conditions makes it difficult to identify and, while adults are distinctive in colour, young birds are more likely to be incorrectly identified as Euro- pean Hobby Falcons F. subbuteo. Recorded in 28 grid cells, 0.6% Breeding is timed so that young are present during the Total number of records: 60 southward migration of passerines from Europe and Asia Mean reporting rate for range: 0.8% (Cade 1982). It reaches southern Africa in mid-November to early December, staying until about mid-April. It aggre- gates to breed in loose colonies, and wintering birds are often encountered in small groups. Its fairly common occurrence along the east coast may be a recent develop- ment, since it is hard to imagine that it could have been overlooked throughout the 19th and first half of the 20th century. J.M. Mendelsohn 1.0 1 5 1.0 2 6 1.0 3 7 1.0 Occurrence reporting rate (%) 4 8 J ASONDJ FMAMJ J ASONDJ FMAMJ Models of seasonality for Zones. Number of records (top to bottom, left to right): Occurrence: 0, 2, 0, 0, 2, 3, 44, 6..

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