Perhaps it is fitting that I captured this mated pair of falcons this past weekend given today’s holiday. They are setting up the family home in the same spot they had last year. In between hunting and picking up nesting material, they were kind enough to stop and pose for me.
This also provided a great example of the differences between the female of this species (left) and the male (right).
As with most raptors, the female is larger but she also has a very different appearance making it easy to tell the difference. She has brown and white on her chest and two-tone brown wings. The male’s chest is solid buff color with colorful blue / gray wings. Both are beautiful in their own right and I hope to see some little ones in a few months.
