The Altai falcon (''Falco cherrug altaicus''?) is a large falcon of questionable taxonomic position. It is often considered to be a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...

of the

saker falcon The saker falcon (''Falco cherrug'') is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia ...

(''Falco cherrug''). It used to have a high reputation among Central Asian falconers. It is uncertain whether the bird is a saker subspecies or a hybrid.

Distribution and taxonomy

The Altai falcon breeds in a relatively small area of Central Asia across the Altai and

Sayan Mountains The Sayan Mountains (russian: Саяны ''Sajany''; mn, Соёны нуруу, ''Soyonï nurû''; otk, 𐰚𐰇𐰏𐰢𐰤, Kögmen) are a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia ( Buryatia, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tuva Repu ...

. This area overlaps with the much larger breeding area of the

''(Falco cherrug)''. It appears that Altai falcons are either natural hybrids between sakers and

gyrfalcon The gyrfalcon ( or ) (), the largest of the falcon species, is a bird of prey. The abbreviation gyr is also used. It breeds on Arctic coasts and tundra, and the islands of northern North America and the Eurosiberian region. It is mainly a resid ...

s ''(Falco rusticolus)'', or rather the descendants of such rare hybrids backcrossing into the large population of sakers. So far, molecular genetic studies cannot prove or falsify the hybrid hypothesis. Gyrfalcons are rare winter vagrants to the Altai falcon's range. The high altitude cold grasslands of the region constitute habitat intermediate between typical saker habitat (temperate lowland steppes) and typical gyrfalcon habitat (arctic tundra). These two species of falcons also easily hybridise in captivity. Thus the Altai falcon is tentatively considered to be a saker subspecies ''Falco cherrug altaicus''. It tends to be larger than typical sakers and has red-backed, brownish and greyish colour varieties.

Literature

* Almásy Gy 1903. Vándor-utam Ázsia szívébe. (My Travels to the Heart of Asia – ''in Hungarian'') Budapest, Természettudományi Könyvkiadó-vállalat. * Eastham CP, Nicholls MK, Fox NC 2002
Morphological variation of the saker (Falco cherrug) and the implications for conservation
''Biodiversity and Conservation,'' 11, 305–325. * Ellis DH 1995
What is Falco altaicus Menzbier?
''Journal of Raptor Research,'' 29, 15–25. *Menzbier MA 1891. (1888–1893). Ornithologie du Turkestan et des pays adjacents (Partie No. -O. de la Mongolie, steppes Kirghiz, contree Aralo-Caspienne, partie superieure du bassin d'Oxus, Pamir). Vol. 12. Publiee par l'Auteur, Moscow, Russia. * Nittinger F, Gamauf A, Pinsker W, Wink M, Haring E 2007
Phylogeography and population structure of the saker falcon (Falco cherrug) and the influence of hybridization: mitochondrial and microsatellite data.
''Molecular Ecology,'' 16, 1497–1517. * Orta J 1994. 57. Saker Falcon. In: del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J (eds.): Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 2: New World Vultures to Guineafowl: 273–274, plate 28. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. * Pfander 2011
Semispecies and Unidentified Hidden Hybrids (for Example of Birds of Prey)
''Raptors Conservation'' 23: 74-105. * Potapov E, Sale R 2005. The Gyrfalcon. Poyser Species Monographs. A & C Black Publishers, London. * Sushkin PP 1938. Birds of the Soviet Altai and adjacent parts of north-western Mongolia. Vol. 1. n Russian.Academy of Science of USSR Press, Moscow, Russia.

External Links to rare Photos

Altai falcon, Western Mongolia

Altai falcon, Western Mongolia

Altai falcon, Kazakhstan
{{Taxonbar, from=Q680705 Altai falcon Falconry Birds of Mongolia Controversial bird taxa Bird hybrids Altai falcon