![]() ![]() ![]() The gyrfalcon is the largest falcon in the world, being about the same size as the largest buteos (buzzards) but probably slightly heavier. The male gyrfalcon is called a gyrkin in falconry. modern German Geier ultimately from Proto-Germanic * girį̄ ("greed")) for " vulture", referring to its size compared to other falcons or from the Latin gȳrus for "circle" or "curved path", in turn from the Ancient Greek γῦρος, gûros, meaning "circle" – from the species' circling as it searches for prey, distinct from the hunting of other falcons in its range. The first part of the word may come from Old High German gîr ( cf. The bird's common name comes from French gerfaucon in Medieval Latin, it is gyrofalco. The species name is from the Latin rusticolus, a countryside-dweller, from rus, "country" and colere, "to dwell". The genus name is the Late Latin term for a falcon, Falco, from falx a sickle, referencing the talons of the bird. The gyrfalcon was formally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Falco rusticolus. Typical prey includes the ptarmigan and waterfowl, which it may take in flight it also takes fish and mammals. For centuries, the gyrfalcon has been valued as a hunting bird. Like other falcons, it shows sexual dimorphism, with the female much larger than the male. These colour variations are called morphs. Its plumage varies with location, with birds being coloured from all-white to dark brown. Individual vagrancy can take birds for long distances. It is mainly a resident there also, but some gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter. It breeds on Arctic coasts and tundra, and the islands of northern North America and the Eurosiberian region. The gyrfalcon ( / ˈ dʒ ɜːr ˌ f ɔː( l) k ən/ or / ˈ dʒ ɜːr ˌ f æ l k ən/) ( Falco rusticolus), the largest of the falcon species, is a bird of prey. Hierofalco rusticolus candicans (Gmelin, 1788).Hierofalco grebnitzkii Severtzov, 1885).Falco rusticolus rusticolus Linnaeus, 1758.Falco rusticolus obsoletus Gmelin, 1788.Falco rusticolus islandus Brünnich, 1764 (but see text).Falco rusticolus intermedius Gloger, 1834.Falco rusticolus grebnitzkii (Severtzov, 1885).Falco rusticolus candicans Gmelin, 1788. ![]()
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