Belongs within: Falconidae.
Falco is a cosmopolitan genus containing the true falcons; the peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus is one of the world’s most widely distributed bird species. Falcons have long pointed wings, unfeathered tarsi and a notch in the upper bill.
In the tree below, the first group to separate from the remaining species (Falco zoniventris to F. tinnunculus) contains the kestrels, mostly small falcons that hover while looking for prey. The remaining species are mostly larger and often darker in coloration, though the American kestrel F. sparverius is the smallest falcon in North America. The merlin F. columbarius is another small, but relatively robust, species. The Amur falcon F. amurensis and red-footed falcon F. vespertinus are Palaearctic species in which the male is mostly dark grey with red beak and feet. The hobbies (F. subbuteo, F. longipennis and related species) are slim falcons with particularly long, narrow wings that mostly catch prey on the wing. The brown falco F. berigora of Australia and New Guinea is a relatively long-legged species with a hawk-like appearance (Fuchs et al. 2015).
<==Falco Linnaeus 1758CC10 (see below for synonymy)
|--+--F. zoniventris Peters 1854BKB15, FJM15
| `--+--F. naumanni Fleischer 1818BKB15, PB96
| `--+--F. alopex (Heuglin 1861)FJM15 [=Tinnunculus alopexM-PG70]
| `--+--F. rupicoloides Smith 1829FJM15 [=*Megacerchneis rupicoloidesCC10]
| `--+--+--F. punctatus Temminck 1821FJM15
| | `--+--F. araea (Oberholser 1917)FJM15
| | `--F. newtoni (Gurney 1863)BKB15, FJM15
| `--+--F. rupicolus Daudin 1800FJM15 (see below for synonymy)
| `--+--F. moluccensis (Bonaparte 1850)FJM15
| | |--F. m. moluccensisJ06
| | `--F. m. microbaliaJ06
| `--+--F. cenchroides Vigors & Horsfield 1827FJM15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| | |--F. c. cenchroides (see below for synonymy)CC10
| | `--F. c. baruCC10
| `--F. tinnunculus Linnaeus 1758BKB15, M02 (see below for synonymy)
| |--F. t. tinnunculusVP89
| |--F. t. interstictusVP89
| |--F. t. rufescens Swainson 1837M-PG70
| `--F. t. saturatusVP89
`--+--F. sparverius Linnaeus 1758FJM15, L58 [=Cerchneis sparveriaS18, Tinnunculus sparveriusJ23]
| |--F. s. sparveriusHRS06
| `--F. s. fernandensis (Chapman 1915)HRS06
`--+--+--+--F. amurensis Radde 1863FJM15 [=F. vespertinus amurensisM-PG70]
| | `--F. vespertinus Linnaeus 1766BKB15, M02
| `--+--+--F. aesalon Turnstall 1771 [=F. columbarius aesalon]FJM15
| | `--F. columbarius Linnaeus 1758FJM15, L58
| | |--F. c. columbariusVP89
| | `--F. c. insignisVP89
| `--+--F. ardosiaceus (Vieillot 1823)FJM15
| `--F. dickinsoni Sclater 1864FJM15
`--+--F. berigora Vigors & Horsfield 1827FJM15, WS48 [=*Ieracidea berigoraCC10]
| |--F. b. berigora [incl. Ieracidea occidentalis Gould 1844]WS48
| |--F. b. centralia (Mathews 1916) [=Ieracidea berigora centralia]WS48
| |--F. b. melvillensis (Mathews 1912)PB96
| `--F. b. tasmanica (Mathews 1916)PB96
`--+--+--+--F. deiroleucus Temminck 1825FJM15
| | `--F. rufigularis Daudin 1800FJM15
| `--+--F. longipennis Swainson 1837FJM15, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
| `--+--F. severus Horsfield 1821FJM15
| `--+--F. eleonorae Géné 1839FJM15
| `--+--F. concolor Temminck 1825BKB15
| `--+--F. cuvieri Smith 1830FJM15
| `--F. subbuteo Linnaeus 1758BKB15, M02 [=*Hypotriorchis subbuteoCC10; incl. F. dendrofalcoF17]
`--+--+--F. femoralis Temminck 1822FJM15
| `--F. novaeseelandiae Gmelin 1788FJM15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
`--+--F. chicquera Daudin 1800FJM15
| |--F. c. chicqueraM-PG70
| `--F. c. ruficollis Swainson 1837M-PG70
`--+--F. mexicanus Schlegel 1851FJM15
`--+--F. hypoleucos Gould 1841FJM15, PB96 [=*Palifalco hypoleucosCC10]
`--+--+--F. fasciinucha Reichenow & Neumann 1895FJM15
| `--+--*F. peregrinus Tunstall 1771CC10, FJM15, M02 [=*Rhynchodon peregrinusCC10; incl. F. radamaSch66]
| | |--F. p. peregrinusWS48
| | |--F. p. anatum Bonaparte 1838S05
| | |--F. p. fruitii Momiyama 1927I92
| | |--F. p. harterti Buturlin 1907I92
| | |--F. p. macropus Swainson 1837 (see below for synonymy)WS48
| | |--F. p. pealei Ridgway 1874I92
| | `--F. p. tundriusUSDI77
| `--F. pelegrinoides Temminck 1829BKB15, FJM15 [=F. japonensis pelegrinoidesM-PG70]
`--+--F. cherrug Gray 1834FJM15 [incl. F. antiquus Mourer-Chauviré 1975M02]
|--+--F. biarmicus Temminck 1825BKB15, FJM15
| | |--F. b. biarmicusM-PG70
| | |--F. b. abyssinicus Neumann 1904M-PG70
| | `--F. b. tanypterusM-PG70
| `--F. rusticolus Linnaeus 1758BKB15, M02 [=Hierofalco rusticolusS05]
| |--F. r. rusticolus [incl. Hierofalco gyrfalco sacer Nelson 1883]S05
| |--F. r. gyrfalco Linnaeus 1758 (see below for synonymy)S05
| |--‘Hierofalco’ r. holboelli (Sharpe 1873) [=Falco holboelli]S05
| `--F. r. obsoletus Stejneger 1885 [=Hierofalco rusticolus obsoletus]S05
`--+--F. jugger Gray 1834BKB15, PB96
`--F. subniger Gray 1843BKB15, CC10 [=*Notofalco subnigerCC10]
Falco incertae sedis:
‘Tinnunculus’ alaudariusB66
F. albigularisS18
F. bakalovi Boev 1999M02
F. barbarus Linnaeus 1758L58
F. cachinnans Linnaeus 1758L58
F. caerulescens Linnaeus 1758L58
F. canadensis Linnaeus 1758L58
F. cineraceus [incl. Circus cinerarius]F17
F. cyaneus [incl. Circus aegithus]F17
F. duboisiHSS13
F. forficatus Linnaeus 1758L58
F. griseusF17
F. hezhengensisCNR16
F. islandicus [incl. F. albidus]F17
F. japonensis Gmelin 1788M-PG70, I92 [incl. F. calidusM=PG70]
|--F. j. japonensis [=F. peregrinus japonensis]I92
|--F. j. brookei Sharpe 1873M-PG70
|--F. j. communis Gmelin 1788M-PG70
`--F. j. perconfusus Collin & Hartert 1927 [incl. F. minor]M-PG70
F. kreyenborgiFP64
F. lanarius Linnaeus 1758L58
F. lineatusJ23
F. lunulatusR87
F. medius Umanskjaa 1981FJM15
F. melanaetus Linnaeus 1758L58
F. melanogenys [=F. peregrinus melanogenys]S13
F. merillus Gerini 1767S05 [incl. F. regulus Sharpe 1874S05, F. smirillusF17]
F. missisippiensisJ23
‘Hieracidea’ orientalisR87
F. sufflator Linnaeus 1758L58
F. versicolorF17
Falco Linnaeus 1758CC10 [=Rhynchodon Nitzsch 1829CC10; incl. Cerchneis Boie 1826CC10, Harpa Sharpe 1874 non Röding 1798CC10, Harpe Bonaparte 1855 non Lacépède 1802CC10, Hieracidea Strickland 1841CC10, Hypotriorchis Boie 1826CC10, Ieracidea Gould 1838CC10, Megacerchneis Roberts 1922CC10, Nesierax Oberholser 1899CC10, Notofalco Mathews 1913CC10, Palifalco Mathews 1946CC10, Tinnunculus Vieillot 1807B94]
Falco cenchroides Vigors & Horsfield 1827FJM15, CC10 [=Cerchneis cenchroidesCC10, Tinnunculus cenchroidesR87]
Falco cenchroides cenchroides Vigors & Horsfield 1827 [incl. Cerchneis immaculata Brehm 1845, C. cenchroides milligani Mathews 1912 WS48, C. unicolor Milligan 1904]CC10
Falco longipennis Swainson 1837FJM15, WS48 [incl. F. lunulatus murchisonianus Mathews 1912WS48, F. longipennis murchisonianusM03]
Falco novaeseelandiae Gmelin 1788FJM15, CC10 [=Cerchneis novaezealandiaeCC10, *Harpe novaeseelandiaeCC10, *Harpe novaezealandiaeCC10, Hieracidea novaezealandiaeCC10, Hypotriorchis novaezealandiaeCC10, Ieracidea novaezealandiaeCC10, *Nesierax novaeseelandiaeCC10, *Nesierax (*Harpa) novaezealandiaeCC10, Teracidea (l. c.) novazealandiaeCC10; incl. Falco australis Hombron & Jacquinot 1841 non Gmelin 1788CC10, Harpa australisCC10, Nesierax australisCC10, Falco brunnea Gould 1838 non F. brunneus Bechstein 1805CC10, F. brunneus Gould 1838 non F. brunneus Bechstein 1805CC10, Hieracidea brunneaCC10, F. ferox Peale 1848CC10, F. harpe Gray in Dieffenbach 1843CC10, Nesierax pottsi Mathews & Iredale 1913CC10]
Falco peregrinus macropus Swainson 1837 [incl. F. peregrinus submelanogenys Mathews 1912]WS48
Falco rupicolus Daudin 1800FJM15 [=*Cerchneis rupicolusCC10, F. tinnunculus rupicolusFJM15, Tinnunculus rupicolaScl66; incl. F. tinnunculus rhodesiM-PG70]
Falco rusticolus gyrfalco Linnaeus 1758 [=F. candicans gyrfalco, Hierofalco rusticolus gyrfalco; incl. F. arcticus Bessels 1879, F. candicans Reinhardt 1861, F. gyrfalco candicans, Hierofalco candicans]S05
Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus 1758BKB15, M02 [incl. F. tinnunculus atavus Jánossy 1972M02, F. brunneus Bechstein 1805CC10]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
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