CreatureData

Prairie falcon

Falco mexicanus Schlegel, 1850

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) is a species in the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes. Recorded adults weigh 562.5 g to 908 g and live up to 13 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus)
Photo: U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the prairie falcon

Weight
562.5 g – 908 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
13 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
20 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
31 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
4.25src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 months – 17.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the prairie falcon live?

Not recorded

What is the prairie falcon?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) is a medium-sized falcon found in Western North America. A separate species from the peregrine falcon, with which it shares some visual similarities, the prairie falcon is an arid-climate divergence of earlier peregrine falcon lineage. It is thus able to thrive in dryland ecosystems and is generally lighter in weight than a peregrine of similar wingspan. Having evolved in harsher and desert environments, often with low prey density, the prairie falcon has developed into an aggressive and opportunistic hunter of a wide range of both mammalian and avian prey, as well as occasional reptiles. It will regularly take prey from the size of sparrows or finches to birds approximately its own weight, and occasionally much larger.

The prairie falcon is the only large falcon species native strictly to North America (others are found throughout the Americas and beyond, such as the peregrine falcon with its cosmopolitan distribution). The prairie falcon is resident from Canada (mainly Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan) through the Western United States (west of the Mississippi) and south into Northern Mexico.

Like many raptors and falconiformes, the prairie falcon is popular in falconry; with proper training and care, it is regarded as being equally as skilled as the more well-known peregrine, among others.

From the Wikipedia article “Prairie falcon” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prairie_falcon&oldid=1381007699), 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 prairie falcon endangered?

The prairie falcon is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the prairie falcon classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderFalconiformes
  5. familyFalconidae
  6. genusFalco
  7. SpeciesFalco mexicanus Schlegel, 1850
Other names and names in other languages (29)
  • صقر البراريArabic
  • Прериен соколBulgarian
  • falcó de les praderiesCatalan
  • raroh prériovýCzech
  • hebog paithWelsh
  • PræriefalkDanish
  • PräriefalkeGerman
  • preria falkoEsperanto
  • Halcón mexicanoSpanish
  • preeriapistrikEstonian
  • preeriahaukkaFinnish
  • Faucon des prairiesFrench
  • prerijski sokolCroatian
  • prérisólyomHungarian
  • Falco di prateriaItalian
  • ソウゲンハヤブサJapanese
  • prerinis sakalasLithuanian
  • prēriju piekūnsLatvian
  • PrairievalkDutch
  • sokół preriowyPolish
  • falcão-das-pradariasPortuguese
  • Мексиканский соколRussian
  • sokol prériovýSlovak
  • Prerijski sokoSerbian
  • präriefalkSwedish
  • Kır doğanıTurkish
  • Çayır DoğanıTurkish
  • сокіл прерієвийUkrainian
  • 草原隼Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the prairie falcon

Other species in the same genus Falco.

LC, Least Concern
Merlin (Falco columbarius)

Merlin

Falco columbarius

Falconidae

LC, Least Concern
Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)

Gyrfalcon

Falco rusticolus

Falconidae

ComparePrairie falcon vs Peregrine falconPrairie falcon vs Common kestrelPrairie falcon vs Eurasian hobbyPrairie falcon vs Merlin

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the prairie falcon?

An adult prairie falcon weighs 562.5 g – 908 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the prairie falcon endangered?

The prairie falcon is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the prairie falcon live?

The prairie falcon has a recorded lifespan of 13 years.

What kind of animal is the prairie falcon?

The prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/prairie-falcon

MLA

“Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/prairie-falcon.

BibTeX
@misc{prairie_falcon_2026,
  title = {Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/prairie-falcon},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}