Hi Richard,
I would count bi-coloured wings as being one of the key features of a Brown
Falcon in flight, and grey legs doesn't rule out Black Falcon. Brown
Falcons have primaries that let the light through, hence giving their wings
a two-tone effect in flight, whereas Black Falcons have very dense primaries
that let no light through, giving their wings a single solid colour. There
was a great discussion of raptor ID recently on the B-Aus archives which
included a section on Black Falcons.
Some images for reference:
Black Falcon:
http://www.aviceda.org/abid/search.php?action=searchresult&p=10&keyword=black+falcon
Brown Falcon:
http://www.aviceda.org/abid/search.php?action=searchresult&p=15&keyword=brown+falcon
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Chris
On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 5:08 PM, richard turner <>
wrote:
> Peter , Greg and others,
>
> Yes, they were Black Falcons.We saw the bi-coloured pattern of the wings,
> grey legs and dstinctive wing as it flew toward us.
>
> There had been a thread on raptors hovering, so I added in this
> information.
>
> Agreed, it is not normal behavour for a black Falcon, but it was a very
> windy day.
>
> I believe it is not normal behavour for this species to be perched on poer
> line poles, as one of thses birds was.
>
> We enjoyed the sighting
>
> Dick Turner
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
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