Aplomado falcon

The aplomado falcon is very slender, long-winged, and long-tailed, the size of a small peregrine falcon (F. peregrinus), at long and with an average wingspan of about , but only half the weight, at about in males and in females. Except that females are bigger than males, the sexes are similar. Juvenile birds are very similar to adults, but their upperparts and belly band are blackish brown, the chest is streaked with black, the white on the head and breast is buffy, and the cinnamon on the underparts is paler, as are the feet. This species may be confused with the bat falcon (F. rufigularis) and the orange-breasted falcon (F. deiroleucus), which have similar black-white-rust patterns below, but those species are built more like peregrine falcons and have solidly blackish heads and darker rufous bellies. ==Taxonomy==

Aplomado falcon had previously been considered related to bat falcon and orange-breasted falcon, Subspecies Three subspecies are accepted: • Falco femoralis septentrionalis Todd, 1916 — northern Mexico south to Guatemala; formerly also Mexican border areas of the United States; small numbers reintroduced there. • Falco femoralis femoralis Temminck, 1822 — Nicaragua and Belize south through South America east of the Andes to Tierra del Fuego • Falco femoralis pichinchae Chapman, 1925 — western Colombia to northern Chile and northwestern Argentina, mainly west of the Andes Compared to nominate F. f. femoralis, the northern subspecies F. f. septentrionalis is slightly larger and paler, while the southwestern F. f. pichinchae is slightly larger and darker, and with an incomplete breast band. ==Range, ecology and status==

The preferred habitat is dry grasslands, savannas, and marshes. In Brazil, is commonly observed in some large cities, such as São Paulo. It ranges from northern Mexico and Trinidad locally to southern South America, but has become extinct from many parts of its range, including all of northern and central Mexico except for a small area of Chihuahua. Globally, however, it is sufficiently widespread that it is assessed as Species of Least Concern by the IUCN. Sightings and nesting activity continue to the present. The addition of nesting platforms to areas where Northern Aplomado Falcons Falco femoralis septentrionalis were reintroduced in South Texas improved the birds' productivity. This resulted in a stable population, however without the addition of nest platforms the re-introduced population would likely decline to extinction. The expansion of the reintroduction program to that area has met with criticism, because technically, all aplomado falcons in New Mexico are classified as part of the "experimental" (reintroduction) population. As such, while they are still legally protected from hunting, they are not protected by Endangered Species Act requirements to preserve habitat and the like. It is believed that mainly habitat destruction caused the species' (near-)disappearance from the US and hinders reestablishment of a wild breeding population. A coalition of environmental groups is attempting to have full protection restored so as not to jeopardize the success of the expanding wild population and the reintroduction efforts. A published paper describes the mixed success of the reintroduction program, carried out by The Peregrine Fund. Reintroduced birds are now breeding on the Texas coast. But in the Chihuahuan Desert locations of west Texas and southern New Mexico, the birds were never successful for an extended period of time, and The Peregrine Fund has now abandoned the reintroduction program. ==References==