Scientific name: Falco cherrug Gray, 1834
Bird group: Birds-of-prey
Field characters. Length 48-57 cm; wingspan 110-125 cm. Differs from Peregrine Falcon by dark brown (not slate grey) upperparts and wings with feathers broadly edged with rufous, whitish crown and neck with dark brown streaks, small indistinct moustachial stripe, and white underparts with weak dark brown spots (no bars). Tail brown with oval white spots; flight feathers almost black above. Underwing pale with dark primary tips and dark bar along outer wing-coverts. Juvenile darker than adult with crown, cheeks, and flanks more streaked. Often almost indistinguishable from juvenile Lanner.
Voice. Utters a long scream and a high-pitched "giäk giäk giäk".
Distribution. Local and rare summer visitor in eastern and south-eastern Europe.
Habitat. Confined to wooded steppe, open grasslands and foothills.
Food. Uses a variety of hunting techniques to capture small mammals and birds. Searches for terrestrial prey during low flight. Major part of diet consists of rodents (susliks, gerbils, lemmings, mole-voles, marmots, hamsters); to a lesser extent it takes also birds (small passerines, pigeons, and even herons and bustards), and lizards.