Black falcon
Falco subniger G. R. Gray, 1843
The black falcon (Falco subniger) is a species in the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes. Recorded adults weigh 643.5 g to 852.3 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the black falcon
- Weight
- 643.5 g – 852.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 96 cm – 1.15 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the black falcon?
Where does the black falcon live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The black falcon is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the black falcon?
The black falcon (Falco subniger) is a medium-large falcon that is endemic to Australia. It can be found in all mainland states and territories and yet is regarded as Australia's most under-studied falcon.
From the Wikipedia article “Black falcon” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_falcon&oldid=1363895369), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black falcon endangered?
The black falcon is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the black falcon classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderFalconiformes
- familyFalconidae
- genusFalco
- SpeciesFalco subniger G. R. Gray, 1843
Synonyms Notofalco subniger minnie
Other names and names in other languages (27)
- صقر أسودArabic
- صقر اسود أستراليArabic
- falcó negreCatalan
- raroh černýCzech
- hebog duWelsh
- SortfalkDanish
- RußfalkeGerman
- nigra falkoEsperanto
- Halcón negroSpanish
- mustpistrikEstonian
- mustajalohaukkaFinnish
- Faucon noirFrench
- crni sokolCroatian
- fekete sólyomHungarian
- Falco neroItalian
- クロハヤブサJapanese
- juodasis sakalasLithuanian
- Zwarte ValkDutch
- sokół czarnyPolish
- falcão-pretoPortuguese
- Чёрный соколRussian
- sokol tmavýSlovak
- Crni sokoSerbian
- svartfalkSwedish
- Kara DoğanTurkish
- сокіл чорнийUkrainian
- 黑隼Chinese
Relatives of the black falcon
Other species in the same genus Falco.
Peregrine falcon
Falco peregrinus
Common kestrel
Falco tinnunculus
Eurasian hobby
Falco subbuteo
Merlin
Falco columbarius
Gyrfalcon
Falco rusticolus
Red-footed falcon
Falco vespertinus
CompareBlack falcon vs Peregrine falconBlack falcon vs Common kestrelBlack falcon vs Eurasian hobbyBlack falcon vs Merlin
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the black falcon?
An adult black falcon weighs 643.5 g – 852.3 g and has a wingspan of 96 cm – 1.15 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the black falcon live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the black falcon for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the black falcon endangered?
The black falcon is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the black falcon?
The black falcon (Falco subniger) belongs to the family Falconidae in the order Falconiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black falcon (Falco subniger). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-falcon
“Black falcon (Falco subniger).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-falcon.
@misc{black_falcon_2026,
title = {Black falcon (Falco subniger)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-falcon},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}