Falcon or hawk?

[karohemd]

What's the difference?
Is one a subspecies of the other?
Both translate as the same in German, although hawk has three possibly translations.

Any ornithologists out there?

Comments

I +think+...

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

...that falcon is a specific type of raptor, whereas hawk is both more general and less precise...

But I could be talking a load of rubbish.

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

Different types of raptor for different environments.

Falcons hunt on the wing and therefore have longer, more streamlined wings & tails (think peregrines). Hawks sit in trees & watch for prey and hence have shorter, stockier wings & tails for manoeverability and braking (think harris hawks).

Generally, arabian countries specialise in falcons because of the open territory, while Britain, iirc, has mor native hawks.

[jonnyargles.livejournal.com]

fal·con Pronunciation Key (flkn, fôl-, fôkn)
n.

Any of various birds of prey of the family Falconidae and especially of the genus Falco, having a short, curved beak and long, pointed, powerful wings adapted for swift flight.
Any of several birds of these or related species, such as hawks, trained to hunt small game.
A female bird of this type used in falconry.
A small cannon in use from the 15th to the 17th century.

hawk Pronunciation Key (hôk)
n.
Any of various birds of prey of the order Falconiformes and especially of the genera Accipiter and Buteo, characteristically having a short hooked bill and strong claws adapted for seizing.
Any of various similar birds of prey.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Right,
this would suggest that hawks are a subspecies/family/variety/whatever the correct term is of falcons.

Cheers!

[skinny-cartman.livejournal.com]

otherway round I think
says the perplexed biologist in the corner
desperately trying to remember his phylums and orders
on the other hand Pendragon (great game...) says that Falcons
are known as Hawks of the lure (as they hunt from free flight) and hawks are
hawks of the fist as they only swoop short distances to take game.
it all comes about from the odd falconry terms we have...

Matt

No...

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

Falcons' latin names start "falco". Hawks' start "accipiter".

In falconry, everything's called a hawk. "Falcon" is strictly the term for a female peregrine.

It's like lions (genus "panthera") and the snow leopard ("uncia"). They're both felidae, but one isn't a subcategory of the other.

Re: No...

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

In falconry, everything's called a hawk.

I think this sentence describes my confusion nicely. ;o)

Oh, yes.

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

I have some falconry books if you're really interested.

[crocodilewings.livejournal.com]

And as a random point of trivia, a Falcon will always defeat a Hawk in aerial combat

[suzerain.livejournal.com]

well, not an ornithologist, but hawks have yellow irises and legs, while falcons have a deeper fiery red colour.

I found that out in the late summer when a young sparrowhawk hit my bedroom window and died.

poor thing, it was lovely.
*sniffle*

JGE
(whose grandfather had a tame barn own as a pet (he was a vet and it broke a wing))