Laughing falcon
Herpetotheres cachinnans (Linnaeus, 1758)
The laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) is a species in the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes. Recorded adults weigh 583 g to 695 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the laughing falcon
- Weight
- 583 g – 695 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 75 cm – 91 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the laughing falcon?
Where does the laughing falcon live?
Not recorded
What is the laughing falcon?
The laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) is a medium-sized bird of prey in subfamily Herpetotherinae of family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found from Mexico south through Central America and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
From the Wikipedia article “Laughing falcon” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laughing_falcon&oldid=1382182664), 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 laughing falcon endangered?
The laughing 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 laughing falcon classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderFalconiformes
- familyFalconidae
- genusHerpetotheres
- SpeciesHerpetotheres cachinnans (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Falco sufflator, Herpetotheres cachnnans
Other names and names in other languages (39)
- صقر ضاحكArabic
- falcó riallerCatalan
- sokolec volavýCzech
- hebog chwerthinogWelsh
- LatterfalkDanish
- LachfalkeGerman
- AkaŭanoEsperanto
- rida falkoEsperanto
- GuacoSpanish
- GuacabaSpanish
- GuaicurúSpanish
- Halcón CulebreroSpanish
- Halcón guacoSpanish
- Halcón reidorSpanish
- JacoboSpanish
- ValdiviaSpanish
- naerupistrikEstonian
- nauruhaukkaFinnish
- Macagua rieurFrench
- Pagannigcr
- sokol zmijarCroatian
- kígyászsólyomHungarian
- Falco sghignazzanteItalian
- ワライハヤブサJapanese
- sakalas kvatoklisLithuanian
- LachvalkDutch
- trębacz chichotliwyPolish
- acauãPortuguese
- Deus-quer-umPortuguese
- falcão-risonhoPortuguese
- Gavião-cova-caiauPortuguese
- Смеющийся соколRussian
- plazožrút krikľavýSlovak
- Soko smejačSerbian
- alen-akaSranan Tongo
- skrattfalkSwedish
- Kahkahacı DoğanTurkish
- макагуаUkrainian
- 笑隼Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the laughing falcon
Other species in the same family Falconidae.
Peregrine falcon
Falco peregrinus
Common kestrel
Falco tinnunculus
Eurasian hobby
Falco subbuteo
Merlin
Falco columbarius
Gyrfalcon
Falco rusticolus
Red-footed falcon
Falco vespertinus
CompareLaughing falcon vs Peregrine falconLaughing falcon vs Common kestrelLaughing falcon vs Eurasian hobbyLaughing falcon vs Merlin
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the laughing falcon?
An adult laughing falcon weighs 583 g – 695 g and has a wingspan of 75 cm – 91 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the laughing falcon endangered?
The laughing 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 laughing falcon?
The laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) 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). Laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/laughing-falcon
“Laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/laughing-falcon.
@misc{laughing_falcon_2026,
title = {Laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/laughing-falcon},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}