175. Sooty Falcon (Falco concolor)

Sooty Falcons are a little bit bigger than Hobbies, but not as big as Eleonora's Falcons. Their breeding distribution is very patchily distributed throughout parts of the Middle East and Africa, such as Libya, Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Jordan and parts of the Arabian Peninsula; they winter in Madagascar and coastal east Africa. Adults are uniformly dark blue-grey all over, even on the underwings (unlike Eleonora's Falcon), and juveniles look a lot like juvenile Hobbies and Eleonora's Falcons - apart from the size difference which is not always apparent, they have a broad dark trailing edge on the underwings (which Hobbies don't have), and a lack of contrasting dark underwing coverts and pale flight feather bases (unlike Eleonora's Falcon). Sooty Falcons like similar habitats to Eleonora's Falcon - rocky cliffs, although it is found further inland than Eleonora's.

Sooty Falcon, ©Frank.Vassen, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Sooty Falcon painting.

I struggled to find a good photo on Creative Commons, this one is a bit dark but I figured I tend to paint things too light anyway and indeed this has turned out to be the case here!