Scientific name:
Falco tunnunculus

Natural spread:
Central Europe

welfare the most frequent representative of the falcons and one of the most frequent gripping-birds in Central Europe at all is the 34 cm long tower-falcon. it is quite good for its bay plumage with dark Handschwingen with its long, constantly wide tail, the long, pointed wings, to decide in the flight. Also, "shaking" is a suitable (the flight to the place with fast consecutive, flat flaps) recognition-characteristic.

Shape Female tower-falcons are somewhat bigger and heavier (opposite 154-290 g 143-252 g substances for males) than this at the head, rear-backs and tail of gray drawn males ("Terzel").

Spread The brood-area of the tower-falcons stretches far over Europe, Asia (without rain-forests) and Africa (here, it avoids the big forest-areas and deserts). Northern and eastern tower-falcon-populations move to the winter after far means and Western Europe, into the Mediterranean-area or to Africa (southwards up to the Congo-basin), to Asia as far as to the Kaspischen sea, Iraq, to central-Asia and in the north Vorderindiens. Tower-falcons from more southern and more western brood-areas pull only short routes or are Z. T. Stand-birds.

Reproduction Tower-falcons proved to be quite adaptable at changed environment-conditions and nest in very diverse landscapes, provided they have only sufficiently open surfaces to the hunt for mice, other small vertebrates and insects in attainable distance. Rock-walls, big buildings and cliffs with ledges and niches serve as nest-locations like trees in field-groves or at forest-edges as well where tower-falcons of left eyries of crows and other, accordingly big nests cover. In this case, the falcons don't collect any Nistmaterial while some plant-material is collected on rocky base to a skimpy upholstery from time to time. According to spread-area, the brood-period begins in February (Z). B. Atlantic-islands, until June (in the north).

The nest usually consists of 4-6 eggs, that become mainly for 27-31 days from the female of erbrütet, of Legeabstand approximately 2 days; Brood-beginning mostly from the last egg at or first shortly, however, before wholeness of the nest. The boys slip in a white Dunenkleid and later put a denser, longer and grayer in 2. Dunenkleid at. they become gehudert intensively from the female tower-falcon and fed, while the male brings up the loot. Also already during the incubation, the male bird alone hunts and hands over the loot to the female at certain places, while it still flew directly before the deposit of the eggs as far as to the eyrie and looked after its partner there.

The nestlings pick up food-scrap of the eyrie-ground independently in the age of approximately 10 days for the first time and finally can Z after 20 days. B. Field-mice without parental help dismantle and "crops." After 27-32 days for example, young tower-falcons become fully-fledged and leave the eyrie. Care is still taken of they at least 4 weeks from the alto-birds after it until they finally leave the Aufzuchtrevier.

Tower-falcons turn 1 sexually mature theirs already against end. Year of life; also after the Jungenaufzucht, one brood-pair still often remains in and sometimes over together until into the autumn even the winter. The known maximum-age of rung tower-falcons amounts to 16 years and 2 months, however most falcons become only few years old surely. So, the Swiss brood-continuance contains 5-year old only 7 percent and 12 percent even older tower-falcons.