Spot-winged falconet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spot-winged falconet |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Falconiformes |
| Family: | Falconidae |
| Genus: | Spiziapteryx Kaup, 1852 |
| Species: |
S. circumcincta
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| Binomial name | |
| Spiziapteryx circumcincta (Kaup, 1852)
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The spot-winged falconet (Spiziapteryx circumcincta) is a cool type of bird of prey. This means it's a bird that hunts other animals for food. It belongs to the falcon family, which includes falcons and caracaras.
You can find this special bird in countries like Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. There have also been possible sightings in Uruguay.
Contents
About the Spot-Winged Falconet
What's in a Name?
The spot-winged falconet is the only bird in its group, called Spiziapteryx. It doesn't have any different types or subspecies. Even though it looks a lot like a typical falcon, scientists have found that its DNA is actually more similar to caracaras.
How to Spot a Spot-Winged Falconet
This bird is about 25 to 31 cm (9.8 to 12 in) long. That's about the length of a school ruler! It weighs between 149 to 249 g (5.3 to 8.8 oz), which is roughly the weight of a few small apples. Female falconets are usually a bit heavier than males.
Their wings can spread out to 47 to 58 cm (19 to 23 in) wide. Both male and female birds look the same. Young falconets also have the same feathers as adult birds. They are quite strong birds with shorter wings and a fairly long tail.
Their head, back, and wings are grayish-brown. You can see white spots on their wings and shoulders. They also have a white patch near their tail. A pale white stripe goes above their eye and down their neck. They have black feathers around their ears and a thin black "moustache" mark.
Their throat is white, and their chest and upper belly are grayish with thin brown stripes. Their lower belly is white. The middle feathers of their tail are dark, while the others are dark with white stripes and tips. Their eyes are pale yellow, and their beak and feet are a creamy yellow color.
Where Do They Live?
The spot-winged falconet lives in a region called the Gran Chaco. This area has mostly open spaces like savannas and dry woodlands. These places have lots of bushes and scattered trees.
You can find them from sea level up to about 750 m (2,500 ft) high. However, they are most common between 100 and 500 m (300 and 1,600 ft) in elevation.
Spot-Winged Falconet Behavior
Staying in One Place
Scientists believe that spot-winged falconets usually stay in the same area all year round. However, some individual birds have been known to travel very far from their usual homes.
What Do They Eat?
We don't know everything about how these falconets hunt. But we do know they often hunt by sitting still on a perch. They wait for their prey to appear, then swoop down.
Their diet includes many different kinds of insects. They also eat lizards, small mammals, and even other birds. Some of the birds they hunt can be as big as the rufous hornero or the monk parakeet.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Spot-winged falconets lay their eggs in Argentina during November and December. Some birds have been seen ready to breed between July and October. This might mean they have two sets of babies in one year!
They like to build their nests inside the woven nests of other bird species, like cacholotes. They also use the busy group nests of monk parakeets. A female falconet usually lays two to four eggs. We don't know exactly how long the eggs take to hatch. However, young birds are thought to be ready to fly about 33 days after they hatch. We don't know much about how the parents care for their young.
How They Communicate
The main call of the spot-winged falconet is a "distinctive nasal clucking." It sounds like a constant clucking sound, and each note gets lower in pitch, almost like a wail. They make this sound when something disturbs them near their nest. They also make a loud, deep "kronk, kronk, kronk..." sound.
Conservation Status
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the spot-winged falconet as a species of "Least Concern." This means they are not currently in danger of disappearing.
Even though their home range is somewhat small, and we don't know their exact population size, their numbers are believed to be stable. There are no immediate threats that scientists have found. The places they prefer to live are not among the most damaged areas in their region.
 | Stephanie Wilson |
 | Charles Bolden |
 | Ronald McNair |
 | Frederick D. Gregory |
