🦅Gyrfalcon
The gyrfalcon, also abbreviated as gyr, is a bird of prey and the largest species in the falcon family, Falconidae. A high-latitude species, the gyrfalcon breeds on the Arctic coasts and tundra, the islands of northern North America and Siberia, where it is mainly a resident species. Some gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season or in winter, and individual vagrancy can take birds for long distances. Its plumage varies with location, with birds being coloured from all-white to dark grey-brown. These colour variations are called morphs. Like other falcons, it shows sexual dimorphism, with the female much larger than the male.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2021.
- Body mass
- 1.43 kg
- Body length
- not recorded
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 14 years
Everything we know about the Gyrfalcon
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass1.43 kgAVONETOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1.41 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length0.2 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Wing length0.37 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Beak length0.04 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Tarsus length0.06 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan14 yearsAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Gestation35 daysAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Litter sizeabout 4AnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Trophic levelCarnivoreAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
HabitatGrasslandAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
LifestyleAerialAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l1.4 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Gyrfalcon yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classAves
- ›orderFalconiformes
- ›familyFalconidae
- ›genusFalco
- ›speciesFalco rusticolus
- classBirds · Aves
- orderFalconiformes
- familyFalconidae
- genusFalco
All 12 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- orderSauria
- classBirds · Aves
- orderFalconiformes
- familyFalconidae
- genusFalco
More about the Gyrfalcon
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Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.
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How speed, brain and bite scale with body size. This animal isn't in the sample yet.
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