Systematics

Orange-breasted Falcon is monotypic; there is no described geographic variation.

For many years the prevailing view was that Orange-breasted Falcon was most closely related to Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and allied species (1 Stresemann, E. 1924. Raubvogelstudien V. Falco deiroleucus Temminck und Falco albigularis Daudin. Journal für Ornithologie 72: 437-438 Close , 2 Hellmayr, C. E., and B. Conover (1949). Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands. Vol. 13, Part I, No. 4: Cathartidae-Acciptridae-Pandionidae-Falconidae. Chicago: Zool. Series, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Close , 3 Wetmore, A. (1965). The Birds of the Republic of Panama. Volume 1. Tinamidae (Tinamous) to Rynchopidae (Skimmers). Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 150. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Close , 4 Stresemann, E., and D. Amadon (1979). Order Falconiformes. In Check-list of Birds of the World, Volume 1, 2nd edition (E. Mayr and G. W. Cottrell, Editors), Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA, USA. pp. 271–425. Close , 5 Amadon, D. and Bull, J. (1988). Hawks and owls of the world: a distributional and taxonomic list, with the genus Otus by Joe T. Marshall and Ben F. King. Proc. West. Found. Vert. Zool.. 3(4): 295-357. Close , 6 Sibley, C. G., and B. L. Monroe (1990). Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, USA, and London, UK. Close ). These authors were aware of the similarity in plumage between the Orange-breasted Falcon and Bat Falcon (Falco rufigularis), but suggested that the larger size of the Orange-breasted (closer to that of the Peregrine), and that its relative proportions (such as the middle two with claw longer than the tarsus; and the central rectrices slightly longer than the outer rectrices; 3 Wetmore, A. (1965). The Birds of the Republic of Panama. Volume 1. Tinamidae (Tinamous) to Rynchopidae (Skimmers). Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 150. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Close ) supported a relationship to the Peregrine Falcon. Cade (7 Cade, T. J. (1982). The Falcons of the World. Collins, London, UK and Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ) and White et al. (8 White, C. M., P. D. Olsen and L. F. Kiff. (1994b). "Family Falconidae (falcons and caracaras)." In Handbook of the birds of the world, edited by J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott and J. Sargatal, 216-275. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. Close ) proposed that the Orange-breasted Falcon is more closely related to Bat Falcon, based on perceived similarities in behavior and in vocalizations (in addition to the plumage similarities). Wink and Sauer-Gürth (9 Wink, M. and Sauer-Gürth, H. (2004). Phylogenetic relationships in diurnal raptors based on nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear marker genes. Pp. 483–498 in: Chancellor, R.D. & Meyburg, B.U. eds. (2004). Raptors Worldwide. Proceedings of the 6th World Conference on Birds of Prey and Owls, Budapest, Hungary, 18–23 May 2003. WWGBP & MME/BirdLife Hungary, Berlin & Budapest. Close ) concluded, based on phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA, that the Orange-breasted Falcon belonged to a group of falcons related to the Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo), and not to the Peregrine group; but this analysis did not include Bat Falcon.

None reported.