The Barbary falcon (Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides) is a medium-sized falcon about the size of a crow. This bird of prey is mainly resident. It ranges from the Canary Islands eastwards across some parts of North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Description The Barbary falcon is a bird of semi-desert and dry open hills. It typically lays its eggs in cliff-ledge nests. It is similar to the peregrine falcon, but smaller at 33–39 cm (13-15.3 inch) length with a wingspan of 76–98 cm (30-38.6 inch). It has characteristic plumage, and adults can be recognised from peregrines. Some regard it as a distinct species since it is specialised to a desert environment. Recently, it has been found to be genetically similar to other subspecies of the peregrine falcon, so it is now considered a subspecies. The female is larger than the male. It resembles its relative in general structure. Female Barbary Falcons are as large as male peregrine falcons. Adults have paler grey-blue upperparts than the peregrine falcon and often have a buff wash to the barred underparts, whereas the larger species has a white background color. The nape is rufous, but this is difficult to see. Sexes are similar, apart from size, but the young birds have brown upperparts and streaked underparts. The streaking is lighter than in the juvenile peregrine falcon. The call is a high-pitched "rek-rek-rek". The Barbary falcon also bears some resemblance to the lanner falcon, but can be distinguished from that species at rest by the head-pattern, and in flight, by the proportions, flight action and underwing pattern. Distribution The Barbary falcon is native to parts of North and East Africa (Algeria, the Canary Islands, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria Sudan, Somalia and Tunisia). It is also common in the Middle East, Gibraltar, Central Asia and South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan. It is a vagrant in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Greece, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Malta, Nepal, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal and parts of Turkey that are not in Europe. Taxonomy The Barbary falcon differs in appearance from the peregrine falcon according to Gloger's rule. The genetic distance is slight and the species form a close-knit and somewhat paraphyletic group in DNA sequence analyses. In fact, some taxonomic authorities consider it conspecific. They