Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Falco naumanni
Malay name: Rajawali-Padang Cakar Pudar · Chinese name: 黄爪隼
Family: Falcons and Caracaras · Status: Vagrant · Size: 29–32 cm · Conservation: Least Concern
Breeds in northwestern Africa, southern Europe, temperate Asia, the Middle East, northern China to southern Siberia; winters in sub-Saharan Africa, rarely to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
Good views are needed to separate this species from Common Kestrel. Male has grey head, plain rufous-chestnut mantle and median coverts, grey upperwing coverts and tertials, and buffish underparts with fewer, rounder spots than Common Kestrel. Female is brownish with barred upperparts, indistinct moustachial/cheek stripe and no dark line behind eye; juvenile almost identical to female. Differences from Common Kestrel: pale yellow claws (Common Kestrel has black claws), proportionately longer central tail feathers, and proportionately longer outermost primary – p10 longer than p7 and p8 and similar in length to p9 (in Common Kestrel, p10 is similar in length to p7 and shorter than p8 and p9).
Open country, reclaimed land and grasslands; most likely on passage during raptor migration.
Typically hovers while hunting over open habitat such as grasslands.