A tale of the Aplomado falcon

My story begins in New Mexico in 2014. As an Englishman, even the name Aplomado evoked the thought of an exotic falcon similar to my native Peregrine and along the lines of a European Hobby. After many years of travel, and having been wrangled by a wicked cowgirl, who bushwacked me into buying a piece of desert situated below the Magdalena mountains - I became the proud co-owner of a small patch of New Mexico - exactly 165 acres. We were aware of the possibility of the Aplomado finding its way to our little ranch, and were vigilant, being entertained by other magnificent raptors; Golden Eagle, Goshawk, American Kestrel and even Turkey Vultures.Then one day, whilst driving out to more civilised locations for supplies, over the dirt road at the end of the property and only a few kilometers as the bird flies from the Armendaris Ranch, we spotted a small contender raptor flying above. Braking the jeep and creating the usual dramatic cloud of orange dust, the bird took a upward swing to a high power cable and the falcon became briefly visible. Could it be the elusive Aplomado?

The beautiful Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico, USA

The northern subspecies of Falco Femoralis septenrionalis tend to be somewhat heavier and nearer to Falco Peregrinus in mass, and this is reflected by its prey spectrum.The southern lighter subspecies Aplomado, are slight and similar to the Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo, reflected in its prey species, composed largely of dragonflies and termites.

The Aplomado falcon once lived across grasslands in southern New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. By the mid-20th century, it had essentially disappeared from the United States because of habitat loss and shrub encroachment into grasslands, pesticide impacts, shooting and persecution, and broader ecological changes.The last known nesting pair in New Mexico was documented near Deming, New Mexico in 1952.

In the 1970s and 1980s, conservationists began captive breeding programs using birds from remnant populations in Mexico. The species was officially listed as endangered in the United States in 1986. In 2005–2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a plan to reintroduce captive-raised falcons into southern New Mexico and Arizona. The first New Mexico releases began in 2006, especially on the privately owned Armendaris Ranch in the Chihuahuan Desert grasslands. Young captive-bred falcons were placed in elevated “hack towers,” where they were fed and protected while learning to fly.

A falcon is considered to be "successfully released" from a breeding program when it is no longer dependent on food provided at the hack site. The process generally takes from three to six weeks, but can be extended to ensure a successful reintroduction, and the birds are monitored daily. If a bird does not attain independence, it may be returned to the hacking site.

Despite early optimism, the New Mexico population never became self-sustaining. A 2013 assessment concluded that the Chihuahuan Desert sites in New Mexico and west Texas were not supporting stable populations.

Fast forward to 2026, and my recent three month sojourn in Brasilia the capital of Brazil, where my Aplomado tale was punctuated. Early one morning, I almost choked on my cup of cafezinho when I looked out across and spotted an Aplomado pair perched on the antenna on the adjacent building. A week later they reappeared, on the same building, on the same antenna, across from the Parque Olhos D'Agua, a relatively small 28 hectare preserve situated in the middle of urban Brasilia.

In contrast to New Mexico in the USA, Aplomado are well represented in Brazil, where they have an endless food supply chain of termites, dragonflies and other flying insects. Records show that a pair of Aplomado have been identified there on the same antenna repeatedly over the last ten years.