How to Tell Mariah and Kaver Apart - A Guide

Size. Kaver is on the left, Mariah is on the right. I took two photographs and merged them together. They were each sitting on opposite sides of the ledge on the nest-box. Mariah is bigger than Kaver. Male falcons are 1/3 smaller than female falcons. The word tiercel is derived from the Latin word tiertius which means one third, a male falcon is approximately one third smaller than the female.



Legs. Here's a picture of both falcons together, Kaver on the left, Mariah on the right. Kaver is famous for his tall skinny legs.



Cere. In the photo above Kaver is on the left, Mariah is on the right. If you look at the feathers right above the cere (beak) you'll notice that Mariah has a small patch of white feathers. Kaver has all black feathers above his cere. This is one of the easiest ways to tell them apart if they are facing you.



Sideburns. Kaver is on the left, Mariah is on the right. You can see that there is a different pattern to their sideburns.

Head coloring. Kaver is on the left, Mariah is on the right. See the spot of whitish feathers on Mariah's head? Kaver doesn't have this.

These are some of the most obvious ways to tell these two falcons apart. I hope you found this guide useful.

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