Brown Falcon — Australian Bird Identification Guide

Large-headed falcon with variable brownish plumage ranging from dark chocolate brown, to reddish, to tan.

⚠️Not listed

🍃Indigenous: Garrgany, A-Garrkganyh, Chicken Hawk, Cackling Hawk, Western Hawk, Brown Hawk, Striped Hawk, White-Breasted Hawk, Striped Brown Hawk, Orange-Speckled Hawk

At a glance

FamilyFalcons and Caracaras

SizeLarge

RarityCommon

Best timeReported across most months in Victoria, with no narrow seasonal peak.

Sounds

Sound sample

0:000:00

Recorded by Marc Anderson

Range map

Occurrence window

16828visible hotspots

197112visible records

6states

Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence

Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.

Species notes

Overview

All have a dark moustache mark, long unfeathered lower legs, and a finely barred tail. Take care to identify dark birds from Black Falcon, which has feathered legs, and a more angular heavy-shouldered appearance. When gliding holds its wingtips up.