Saker Falcon

The saker falcon is a large falcon that breeds from central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It resembles a larger but browner gyrfalcon and its plumage is variable. It is the second fastest bird in level flight after the white-throated needletail, though that is unconfirmed, capable of about 150 km/h, and is the national bird of several Arab countries, having been part of Arab heritage for over 9,000 years (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a partial migrant: in Europe part of the juveniles migrate while adults are mostly resident, and European and west Asian migratory birds winter in the Sahel. On migration they cross the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan, where they are exposed to illegal trapping. SoIB 2023 rates it a High conservation priority, a winter migrant and localised summer migrant of open habitat with a Restricted range of about 7,900 km² (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).