Breeding Behaviour and Diet of a Pair of Black Falcons Falco subniger in Northern New South Wales

The breeding behaviour and diet of a fam il y of Black F a lcon s Falco sub n ige r were studied by 65 hours ' observation during th e nestling and post - fledging periods , and b y analysis of prey rem ains and pe llet s, near Tamworth on the North-west S l op e s of New South Wale s in August-October 2004. By number of prey items ( n = 80) the F a lcons ' diet consisted of 55 % bir d s , 4 1 % g r ass h oppers (Acridoidea) and 4 % R ab bit s Oryctolagus c uni cu lu s , of whi ch Galahs Ca c a tua ro seicapilla (11 % ) , pigeons (10 % ), Co mmon Starlings Stumus vulgmis (10 % ) and parrots (9 % ) w e re frequent pre y . By biomass the Falcons' diet consisted of 91 % birds, 8 % Rabbits , a nd < 1 % grasshopper s, of  which Galahs ( 36% ) , pigeons (23% ) , parrots (8 % ) and Starlings (7 % ) together co nt r ibut ed thr ee qu ar ters of total biomass from bird prey . T h e fema l e p e rformed most of the c a r e and gu a rding of nestlings. The parental feedin g rate averaged 0 .3 item / h in the nestling period a nd 0.4 it em/h in the first two weeks of the post-fledging dependence period. The post-fledging period l as t ed a t lea s t 21 d ays . Parental behaviour, displays , voc ali sat ions , huntin g b e h av i our, a nd juvenile morphology and development are described.