Species: Falco rusticolus
Gyrfalcon
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Falconiformes
Family
Falconidae
Genus
Falco
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
faucon gerfaut
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Raptors
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Falconiformes - Falconidae - Falco - FALCO GYRFALCO is a synonym (Banks and Browning 1995). See Olsen et al. (1989) for a study of relationships within the genus FALCO based on electrophoretic patterns of feather proteins.
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - true - true - Overwinters as far north as available prey allows. Many individuals, especially those from the high arctic, migrate south for winter (especially juveniles and prebreeders); migrant females arrive on breeding areas mid-February to early March (Cade 1982). Satellite telemetry has documented migrations between Alaska and eastern Asia (Britten et al. 1995).
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Diet mostly consists of birds (especially ptarmigans which make up 85-95% of their diet by weight, although other birds of prey, ducks, auks, gulls, and terns are locally important). Small mammals are important in some areas and to young birds (Cade 1982). Primary prey in central Canadian arctic: rock ptarmigan, arctic ground squirrel, and arctic hare (Poole and Boag 1988). Takes most prey from the ground rather than from the air. See Palmer (1988) for many details.
Reproduction Comments
Pair-bonds form over 6-8 weeks before egg laying (April-early May or into June). Clutch size most commonly is 3-4. Incubation lasts about 5 weeks (but 44 days also reported), mainly by female, which broods young 10 days, then aids in food provision until fledging at 7-8 weeks (late June to mid-Aug. in Beaufort Sea area). Young are dependent for another month or more. First breeds probably at 2 years.
Ecology Comments
Distance between nest sites was 3-38 km in northern Alaska; average of 10.4 km for inland sites in Greenland, minimum of 15 km for coastal sites in Greenland. Hunted up to 12-15 km from aerie in interior Alaska (see Palmer 1988).
Length
64
Weight
2100
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-22
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-22
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Holarctic. BREEDS: in Alaska (see Johnson and Herter [1989] for details), northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, northern Scandinavia, northern Russia, and northern Siberia. WINTERS: south to mid-Europe, Japan, southern Canada, and irregularly to the northern coterminous U.S.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)