---
title: "Red-necked Falcon"
description: "Falco chicquera — Birds. The red-necked falcon (Falco chicquera) is a bird of prey in the falcon family with two disjunct populations, one in India and the other in Africa."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/red-necked-falcon
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Red-necked Falcon

> Falco chicquera — Birds. The red-necked falcon (Falco chicquera) is a bird of prey in the falcon family with two disjunct populations, one in India and the other in Africa.

- Scientific name: *Falco chicquera*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows)
- iNaturalist observations: 837
- Wikidata: [Q738666](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q738666)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4670](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4670)

## Names

- en: Red-necked Falcon
- de: Rothalsfalke
- es: Alcotán cuellirrojo
- fr: Faucon chicquera
- nl: Roodkopsmelleken
- pt: Falcão-de-nuca-vermelha
- pl: Sokół rudogłowy

## Countries with the most observations

IN (260), NA (124), ZA (76), BW (46), BJ (45), GM (44), UG (34), TZ (27), SN (25), ZM (22), NG (20), BD (13)

## Summary

The red-necked falcon (Falco chicquera) is a bird of prey in the falcon family with two disjunct populations, one in India and the other in Africa. This medium-sized falcon has bluish grey wings and upper body, a chestnut red cap with short chin straps passing through the eye. The primary feathers of the wing are black and a single black band at the tip of the tail are distinctive. The Indian subspecies Falco chicquera chicquera also known as the red-headed merlin or red-headed falcon is found mainly in the open plains of the India Subcontinent although it is thought to have occurred further west in southeastern Iran…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-necked_falcon

## Photo

![Red-necked Falcon](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/red-necked-falcon/medium.jpg)

Photo: Don Wellmann · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144127020

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/red-necked-falcon?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).