Home/Species/ Gyrfalcon

Falco rusticolus

Linnaeus, 1758

Gyrfalcon

G5Secure Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102763

Element CodeABNKD06080

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

CITESAppendix I

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderFalconiformes

FamilyFalconidae

GenusFalco

Other Common Names

Faucon gerfaut (FR)

Concept Reference

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.

Taxonomic Comments

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.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2016-04-07

Change Date1996-11-22

Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

Rank Reasons

Large (Holarctic) range; populations apparently are stable in most areas.

Range Extent Comments

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.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Primarily open country in the Arctic, including tundra, open coniferous forest, mountainous regions, and rocky seacoasts; generally in coastal areas in winter (AOU 1983, National Geographic Society 1983).

Usually nests on cliff ledges, ideally beneath sheltering overhang; sometimes nests in trees or on man-made structures. Nest generally is a scrape on a rock ledge or an abandoned hawk or raven nest. May nest on same cliffs as does peregrine. May compete successfully with peregrine for nest sites. May change nest site in successive years.

Ecology

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).

Reproduction

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.

Terrestrial Habitats

Woodland - ConiferAlpineTundraCliff

Palustrine Habitats

HERBACEOUS WETLAND

Other Nations (2)

CanadaN4B,N5N

Province	Rank	Native
Island of Newfoundland	S2N,SUM	Yes
Manitoba	S2N	Yes
Nova Scotia	SUN	Yes
New Brunswick	SNA	Yes
Labrador	S3	Yes
Yukon Territory	S3	Yes
Saskatchewan	S4N,SNRM	Yes
Quebec	S4	Yes
Northwest Territories	S4	Yes
Ontario	S3N	Yes
British Columbia	S3B,SNRN	Yes
Alberta	S5N	Yes
Nunavut	S4	Yes

United StatesN3B,N3N

Province	Rank	Native
Montana	SNA	Yes
Colorado	SNA	Yes
Nebraska	SNRN	Yes
Minnesota	SNRN	Yes
New York	SNRN	Yes
Michigan	SNRN	Yes
Washington	S2N	Yes
Wyoming	SNA	Yes
Maine	S1N	Yes
Idaho	SNA	Yes
Alaska	S4	Yes
New Jersey	SNA	Yes
South Dakota	S3N	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
11 - Climate change & severe weather	Pervasive (71-100%)	Unknown	Low (long-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alteration	Pervasive (71-100%)	Unknown	Low (long-term)

Roadless Areas (5)

Alaska (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Crystal	Tongass National Forest	18,972

Montana (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bridger	Gallatin National Forest	45,059

Oregon (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Hurricane Creek	Wallowa-Whitman National Forest	1,606
Little Sheep	Wallowa-Whitman National Forest	5,238

Washington (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Asotin Creek	Umatilla National Forest	16,433

References (17)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Banks, R. C., and M. R. Browning. 1995. Comments on the status of revived old names for some North American birds. Auk 112:633-648.
Britten, M. W., C. L. McIntyre, and M. Kralovec. Satellite radiotelemetry and bird studies in national parks and preserves. Park Science 15(2):20-24.
Cade, T.J. 1982. The Falcons of the World. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. 192 pp.
Fisher, A.K. 1893. The hawks and owls of the United States in their relation to agriculture. Washington U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Bull. no. 6. 210 pp.
Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
Johnsgard, P. A. 1990. Hawks, eagles, and falcons of North America. Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington, D.C. xvi + 403 pp.
Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
Olsen, P. D., R. C. Marshall, and A. Gaal. 1989. Relationships within the genus FALCO: a comparison of the electrophoretic patterns of feather proteins. Emu 89:193-203.
Palmer, R. S., ed. 1988b. Handbook of North American birds. Vol. 5. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven. 465 pp.
Pendleton, B. A. G., B. A. Millsap, K. W. Cline, and D. M. Bird. 1987. Raptor management techniques manual. National Wildlife Federation, Sci. and Tech. Ser. No. 10. 420 pp.
Poole, K. G., and D. A. Boag. 1988. Ecology of gyrfalcons, FALCO RUSTICOLUS, in the central Canadian Arctic: diet and feeding behavior. Can. J. Zool. 66:334-344.
Poole, K. G., and R. G. Bromley. 1988. Natural history of the gyrfalcon in the central Canadian Arctic. Arctic 41(1), in press.
Snow, C. 1974. Habitat management series for unique or endangered species, Report No. 9, Gyrfalcon FALCO RUSTICOLUSL.. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Dept. of Int., TechnicalNote, T-N-241, Denver.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Falco rusticolus

Habitat

Ecology

Reproduction

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