Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla)
Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)
Distinct head markings, with black eye-stripe contrasting with broad, white supercilium. Top of head yellow (female), or orange (male), framed by black crown stripes. Characteristic orange shoulder patch, lacking in all confusion species. Immature is distinguished by present supercilium, other head markings absent.
Sound:Call: a thin "tsi tsi tsi" similar to Goldcrest, but not so sharp. Song: Similar in timbre to Goldcrest, but much more monotonous. A slow crescendo of short "tze" sounds in a phrase rising slightly in pitch, without the repeated arpeggiated movements of goldcrest.
Song:
Distribution:
Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCLargest falcon. Heavily built. Grey upperparts and white, speckled underparts. Juveniles with browner plumage than adults, blue-grey legs and longitudinal streaking below. Diffuse moustache-stripe, and the whole head seems dark at distance, lacking a defined cap. Rounder and broader wings, longer tail and bulky belly distinguishes it from Peregrine. Underside of wings with dark coverts in contrast to pale base of flight-feathers. Extremely powerful, but slower flight action than Peregrine.
Sound:A coarse, drawn out, Peregrine-like "kaaawt", with emphasis on ending, is repeated in series. Much slower paced than in small falcons, and deeper and with different attack than in Peregrine. Also shorter, coarse warning-calls.
Alarm call:
Distribution:
Xeno-canto: map
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCSounds:Recorded by Andrew Spencer,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license