Calls and vocal behaviour of the Black Falcon Falco subniger

Abstract

Some calls of the Black Falcon Falco subniger (adult female cackle calls and begging whines, adult male creaking call) are described and illustrated, together with quantification of calling rates of both sexes at four active nests near Tamworth, NSW. Females were more vocal than males at all stages of the breeding cycle. Black Falcon cackle calls are similar to those of the Peregrine Falcon F. peregrinus, although more guttural owing to a lower fundamental frequency of ~1 kHz in females, compared with ~2 kHz in female Peregrine Falcons. The Black Falcon is less vocal than the Peregrine, and breeding males use the whining call much less frequently than do Peregrine males.