Eleonora's Falcon

Falco eleonorae

Times its breeding to autumn so it can feed chicks on songbirds migrating across the Mediterranean. Calendar-precise courier.

Population: Roughly 4,500–6,500 breeding pairs across the Mediterranean (sources vary; Tilos alone hosts ~650 pairs, cited by Wikipedia as ~10% of the global population, implying ~6,500; Animal Diversity Web independently cites ~4,500 pairs)
Habitat: Rocky, sparsely vegetated Mediterranean islands and sea cliffs for nesting (nest elevation sea level to ~2,000m); open forest, wetland, ricefields, lakes, and agricultural land in Madagascar during the non-breeding season
Fun fact: Eleonora's Falcon delays its breeding season into early autumn to coincide with the songbird migration, and has been observed capturing small birds alive, plucking their flight feathers, and caching them to feed its chicks days later — a food-storing (larder) behavior unique among falcons.
Range: Breeds colonially on Mediterranean islands and coasts (Canary Islands, Morocco/Algeria, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece including Crete, Cyprus, ~two-thirds of world population in Greece); almost the entire population migrates roughly 9,000 km to winter in Madagascar, with some in E. Africa and the Mascarene Islands
Diet: Large flying insects (especially dragonflies) for most of the year, switching in late summer/early autumn to small migratory songbirds (100+ species documented) caught on the wing to feed nestlings; occasionally small mammals, lizards, and bats
Size: 0.4 m
Wingspan: 0.95 m
Lifespan: 6 years

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