Falco cherrug
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The saker falcon (''Falco cherrug'') is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from central Europe eastwards across the
Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia, the
Arabian peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
, northern Pakistan and western
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The saker falcon is the national bird of Hungary, the United Arab Emirates, and Mongolia.


Taxonomy and systematics

This species belongs to the close-knit
hierofalcon The hierofalcons are four closely related species of falcon which make up the subgenus ''Hierofalco'': * Lanner falcon, ''Falco biarmicus'' * Laggar falcon, ''Falco jugger'' * Saker falcon, ''Falco cherrug'' * Gyrfalcon, ''Falco rusticolus'' Th ...
complex. In this group, there is ample evidence for rampant hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting which confounds analyses of
DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...
data to a massive extent; molecular studies with small sample sizes can simply not be expected to yield reliable conclusions in the entire hierofalcon group. The
radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...
of the entire living diversity of hierofalcons seems to have taken place in the Eemian interglacial at the start of the
Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...
, a mere 130,000–115,000 years ago; the saker falcon represents a lineage that expanded out of northeastern Africa into the interior of southeastern Europe and Asia, by way of the eastern Mediterranean region. In captivity, lanners and sakers can interbreed, and gyrfalcon-saker hybrids are also available (see bird flu experiment described in "Ecology and status"). The
specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''cherrug'', comes from the Sindhi name ''charg'' for a female saker. The
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
''saker'' comes from the () meaning "falcon". Saker falcons at the northeast edge of the range in the
Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...
are slightly larger, and darker and more heavily spotted on the underparts than other populations. These, known as the
Altai falcon The Altai falcon (''Falco cherrug altaicus''?) is a large falcon of questionable taxonomic position. It is often considered to be a subspecies of the saker falcon (''Falco cherrug''). It used to have a high reputation among Central Asian falcon ...
, have been treated in the past either as a distinct species ''"Falco altaicus"'' or as a
hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
between saker falcon and gyrfalcon, but modern opinion (e.g. ) is to tentatively treat it as a form of saker falcon, until comprehensive studies of its population genetics and ecology are available.


Description

The saker falcon is a large
hierofalcon The hierofalcons are four closely related species of falcon which make up the subgenus ''Hierofalco'': * Lanner falcon, ''Falco biarmicus'' * Laggar falcon, ''Falco jugger'' * Saker falcon, ''Falco cherrug'' * Gyrfalcon, ''Falco rusticolus'' Th ...
, larger than the lanner falcon and almost as large as gyrfalcon at length with a wingspan of . Males weigh between and females . It resembles a larger but browner gyrfalcon. It is larger and more heavily built than the related lanner falcon.Orta, J., Boesman, P., Sharpe, C.J. & Marks, J.S. (2019). Saker Falcon (''Falco cherrug''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53244 on 15 February 2019). Saker falcons tend to have variable plumage. Males and females are similar, except in size, as are young birds, although these tend to be darker and more heavily streaked. The call is a sharp ''kiy-ee'' or a repeated ''kyak-kyak-kyak''.


Ecology

The saker falcon is a raptor of open grasslands preferably with some trees or cliffs. It often hunts by horizontal pursuit, rather than the peregrine's stoop from a height, and feeds mainly on rodents and birds. In Europe, ground squirrels and feral pigeons are the most common prey items. This species usually builds no nest of own, but lays its 3–6 eggs in an old stick nest in a tree which was previously used by other birds such as storks, ravens or buzzards. It also often nests on cliffs. Saker nests support a species-rich assemblage of commensal insects.


Status and conservation

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
categorises this bird as endangered, due to a rapid population decline, particularly on the central Asian breeding grounds. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United Arab Emirates have been the main destination for thousands of falcons caught and sold illegally for hefty sums at the black market. Kazakhstan is estimated to lose up to 1,000 saker falcons per year. The species also faces pressure from habitat loss and destruction. The population was estimated to be between 7,200 and 8,800 mature individuals in 2004. However, sakers live at low densities across large ranges in remote regions, making distribution status difficult to assess. A climatic niche modelling study pinpointed certain remote areas for targeted population surveys. In the United States, Canada and Europe there are several
captive breeding Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, botanic gardens, and other conservation facilities. It is sometimes employed to help species that ...
projects. The most dramatic decline of the saker falcon in Asia has been in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In contrast, a strongly protected and relatively abundant population persists in Hungary. Saker falcons are known to be very susceptible to avian influenza, individuals having been found infected with highly pathogenic H5N1 (in Saudi Arabia) and H7N7 (in Italy) strains. Therefore, an experiment was done with
hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
gyr-saker falcons, which found that five falcons vaccinated with a commercial H5N2 influenza vaccine survived infection with a highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, whereas five unvaccinated falcons died. This means that sakers could be protected from bird flu by vaccination, at least in captivity. Faucon sacre MHNT.jpg, Egg Saker Falcon RWD3.jpg, Captive, Carolina Raptor Center, United States Saker_Falcon_RWD4.jpg, Captive, Carolina Raptor Center Sakerfalcon.JPG, Captive bird,
Chew Valley Lake Chew Valley Lake () is a reservoir in Chew Stoke, Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is the fifth-largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom, with an area of . The lake, created in the early 1950s, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956. ...
, England Сокол балобан на обучении (Falco cherrug).jpg, Falcon training in Moscow Falco cherrug Qatar.jpg, Captive bird, Doha, Qatar Aa_saker_female.jpg, Captive bird Sakerfalke beim Wenden in der Luft - Zuschnitt.jpg, Flying bird at bird show


In culture

A Hungarian mythological bird, the
Turul The Turul is a mythological bird of prey, mostly depicted as a Falcon, in Hungarian tradition and Turkic tradition, and a national symbol of Hungarians. Origin The Turul is probably based on a large falcon. The Hungarian language word ''tur ...
, was probably a saker falcon (''kerecsensólyom''), and the saker falcon is the national bird of Hungary. In 2012, the saker falcon was selected as the national bird of Mongolia. In Disney's ''
Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...
'', the Hun leader Shan Yu owns a saker falcon called Hayabusa. In the children's book ''Tiger Wars'' by
Steve Backshall Stephen James Backshall (born 21 April 1973) is an English naturalist, explorer, presenter and writer, best known for BBC TV's ''Deadly 60''. His other BBC work includes being part of the expedition teams in ''Lost Land of the Tiger'', ''Lo ...
, one of the main characters is called Saker after the falcon.


Use in falconry

The saker falcon has been used in falconry for thousands of years, and like its very close relative, the gyrfalcon, is a highly regarded in it. Swift and powerful, it is effective against medium and large game bird species. Saker falcons can reach speeds of 120 to 150 km/h and suddenly swoop down on their prey. In recent years it is possible that hybrids of the saker falcon and
peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
have been developed in order to provide falconers a bird with greater size and horizontal speed than the peregrine, with greater propensity for diving stoops on game than the saker.


References

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External links


saker.sciencefornature.org
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Live 24hr view of a saker falcon nest
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Saker Falcon ''Falco cherrug'' Global Action Plan (SakerGAP)
{{Authority control saker falcon Birds of Africa Birds of Central Asia Birds of Mongolia Birds of prey of Eurasia Birds of the Arabian Peninsula Birds of China Birds of Pakistan saker falcon Falconry saker falcon