Altai falcon


The Altai falcon has been identified as a color morph of the Central Asian saker falcon, as per the latest genetic research. Previously, it was variously classified as a morph, a subspecies, and even separate species. It used to have a high reputation among Central Asian falconers.

Distribution and taxonomy

The Altai falcon breeds in a relatively small area of Central Asia across the Altai and Sayan Mountains. This area overlaps with the much larger breeding area of the saker falcon '. Previously, it was believed that Altai falcons were either natural hybrids between sakers and gyrfalcons ', or rather the descendants of such rare hybrids backcrossing into the large population of sakers. However, has demonstrated that Altai falcons are genetically intermingled with the broader Asian Saker population and do not constitute a distinct cluster, indicating that they do not represent a separate taxonomic entity.

Literature

  • Almásy Gy 1903. Vándor-utam Ázsia szívébe. Budapest, Természettudományi Könyvkiadó-vállalat.
  • Eastham CP, Nicholls MK, Fox NC 2002. . Biodiversity and Conservation, 11, 305–325.
  • Ellis DH 1995. Journal of Raptor Research, 29, 15–25.
  • Zinevich, L, Prommer, M, Laczkó, L, Rozhkova, D, Sorokin, A, Karyakin, I, Bagyura, J, Cserkész, T, Sramkó 2023. Scientific Reports, 13:17800.
  • Menzbier MA 1891.. Ornithologie du Turkestan et des pays adjacents. Vol. 12. Publiee par l'Auteur, Moscow, Russia.
  • Nittinger F, Gamauf A, Pinsker W, Wink M, Haring E 2007. Molecular Ecology, 16, 1497–1517.
  • Orta J 1994. 57. Saker Falcon. In: del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J : Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 2: New World Vultures to Guineafowl: 273–274, plate 28. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
  • Pfander 2011. Raptors Conservation 23: 74-105.
  • Potapov E, Sale R 2005. The Gyrfalcon. Poyser Species Monographs. A & C Black Publishers, London.
  • Sushkin PP 1938. Birds of the Soviet Altai and adjacent parts of north-western Mongolia. Vol. 1. Academy of Science of USSR Press, Moscow, Russia.