Aplomado Falcon

Overview
Aplomado Falcon: Medium falcon with slate-gray upperparts, plain white breast. White, moustache-striped face has pale eyebrows joining at back of head. Belly and legs are cinnamon-brown. Long tail banded with white and black (or gray) stripes. Swift, direct flight with deep wing beats, also hovers.

Range and Habitat
Aplomado Falcon: Once bred from southwestern U.S. to the southernmost portion of South America, but largely extirpated by the 1930's; now mostly seen across Mexican-American border. Preferred habitats include deserts, grasslands, prairie, and savanna.

INTERESTING FACTS
"Aplomado" is an unusual Spanish word for "lead-colored", referring to the blue-gray areas of the plumage. A group of falcons has many collective nouns, including a "bazaar", "eyrie", "ringing up", "stooping up", and "tower" of falcons. The Aplomado Falcon was first described in 1822 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck, a Dutch aristocrat and zoologist. Their resemblance in shape to hobbies accounts for the former name of Orange-chested Hobby.