Brown falcon

Adults are usually long. They are found in light and dark forms and a variety of intermediates. Animals typically have red-brown heads with narrow black streaks with a light crown and off-white chin. Wings are a spotted red-brown with dark brown quills. Beaks are light blue/grey; eyes are brown. The falcons make a loud cackle call uttered frequently. ==Breeding and habitat==

Brown falcons breed from June to November, usually in an old nest of a larger passerine or another hawk species; they occasionally nest in hollow limbs of trees. The brown falcon lays between two and five eggs that have red and brown spots and blotches. ==Subspecies==

• F. b. novaeguineae : central and eastern New Guinea and coastal northern Australia • F. b. berigora : Australia (except coastal north) and Tasmania ==Diet==

The brown falcon eats small mammals, including house mice. They also eat young rabbits in the summer. It also eats small birds, lizards, snakes, and a variety of invertebrates, particularly caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles. Insects form the bulk of the animals' diets during winter and the falcons often chase the insects on the ground. ==Behaviour==

Brown falcons and other Australian firehawks have been said to pick up sticks with flames and dropping them to spread fires and prey on escaping animals. According to Audubon, "That anecdotal evidence is sourced from personal testimonies by Australian firefighters and aboriginal people, as well as historical literature, and amounts to 14 firsthand narratives of this specific occurrence." ==References==

File:Falco berigora.jpg|John Gould illustration File:Brown falcon1444.jpg|Brown falcon portrait Brown-Falcon,-Vic,-3.1.2008.jpg|Brown falcon File:Falco berigora -Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia -flying-8 (1).jpg|In flight in Victoria, Australia File:Falco berigora pale 001.png|Adult, Tasmania File:F berigora pale 002.png|Adult (pale morph) takes flight, Tasmania File:Brown Falcon on thistles.jpg|alt=Brown Falcon perched on thistles near Lake Borrie, Vic, looking back at photographer.|Brown falcon perched on thistles near Lake Borrie, Vic. File:Brown Falcon pikedale.ogv|Brown falcon attending prey, Pikedale, S. Queensland