Aplomado Falcon

The Aplomado Falcon, Falco femoralis, is a medium-sized falcon of the Americas. The species' largest contiguous range is in South America, but not in the deep interior Amazon Basin. It was long known as Falco fusco-coerulescens or Falco fuscocaerulescens, but these names are now believed to refer to the Bat Falcon (F. rufigularis)[1]. Its resemblance in shape to the hobbies accounts for its old name Orange-chested Hobby. Aplomado is an unusual Spanish word for "lead-colored", referring to the blue-grey areas of the plumage – an approximate English translation would be "leaden falcon". Spanish names for the species include halcón aplomado and halcón fajado (roughly "banded falcon" in reference to the characteristic pattern); in Brazil it is known as falcão-de-coleira