# Red-footed falcon (*Falco vespertinus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-footed-falcon  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), also called the Western red-footed falcon or Western red-footed kestrel, is a small bird of prey in the family Falconidae and order Falconiformes. Adults weigh 151.5 g, with reported values from 144.2 to 168.5 g, and have a wingspan of 72 cm. It is a migratory, aerial-foraging invertivore of grassland habitat, with a geographic range of 9,360,000 km². The species is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category, and lays 3.5 eggs per clutch with one clutch per year.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 144.2 g – 168.5 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 72 cm |
| Lifespan | 13.2 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 18 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland |
| Egg incubation | 24.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3.5 |
| Age at maturity | 11.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aerial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Falconiformes
- family: Falconidae
- genus: Falco
- species: *Falco vespertinus* Linnaeus, 1766

Synonyms: *Erythropus vespertinus transriphaeus*, *Falco pyrrhogaster*, *Falco rufipes*, *Falco vespertinus obscurus*, *Hierax rufipes*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the red-footed falcon?

The red-footed falcon is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes and genus Falco.

### How heavy is the red-footed falcon?

Adults weigh 151.5 g, with reported values from 144.2 to 168.5 g. Its wingspan is 72 cm.

### What does the red-footed falcon eat?

The red-footed falcon is an invertivore, placed at the carnivore trophic level.

### Is the red-footed falcon endangered?

The red-footed falcon is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.

### How long does the red-footed falcon live?

Its lifespan is given as 13.2 years, with values up to 18 years reported.

### How many eggs does the red-footed falcon lay?

It lays 3.5 eggs per clutch, with one clutch per year and an incubation period of 24.5 days.

### Is the red-footed falcon migratory?

Yes, the red-footed falcon is migratory, and its geographic range covers 9,360,000 km².

### Who named the red-footed falcon?

The red-footed falcon was named Falco vespertinus by Linnaeus, 1766.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-footed-falcon