The main distinguishing characters of falconiforms are the hooked beak, used for tearing flesh; taloned feet, used for piercing, grasping, and killing prey; strong feather quills that can withstand the aerodynamic forces of rapid flight; and large eyes, with very acute vision.
Feet and beak
These appendages comprise the main killing and feeding adaptations that distinguish birds of prey. The exact structure of the beak varies according to the prey eaten. Falcons (family Falconidae) and some insectivorous kites have notches or toothlike structures on the cutting edge of the beak. In falcons these assist in breaking the necks of prey, but their purpose in kites is obscure. In Old World vultures the bills vary, permitting ecological separation while feeding on the same carcasses.
Prey is normally killed with the feet. Three toes are directed forward, one behind. The hind toe is usually heavier- and longer-taloned than the others. In the osprey the outer toe is reversible for more-effective handling of fish. Fish-eating falconiforms have sharp spicules on the soles of the toes to grasp their slippery prey. The feet may vary from long, slim-toed, and needle-taloned (for killing birds, as in goshawks) to short and thick-toed (for grasping snakes, as in short-toed eagles) or heavy-toed with thick, strong talons (capable of paralyzing medium-sized mammals, as in harpy eagles). In Old and New World vultures, which seldom or never kill, the feet lack long sharp talons.
Plumage and molt
Falconiforms are bulky, heavily feathered birds, lightweight in relation to their apparent size. The first plumage is usually white or gray down, called the prepennae. The second down, or preplumulae, grows through the first after days or weeks and is itself superseded by feathers erupting from the prepennae follicles. The latest feathers to develop fully are wing and tail quills, which are large, strong, and often specially adapted.
The immature plumage, presumably representing a primitive type, usually differs markedly from the adult. Adult appearance is acquired by a series of molts with, in large species, several intermediate or subadult stages. Immature birds usually are brown and streaked or spotted; adults may be more brightly coloured. The sexes usually are alike in plumage. In some island species—e.g., the Madagascar cuckoo-hawk (Aviceda madagascariensis)—the plumage type found in the immature persists in adult life.
Plumage is replaced by a molt lasting four months to several years. This process is slower and more irregular in larger species. Wing quills are molted in definite sequence. In many accipiters and related species, molt begins with the innermost primary feather (number 1) and proceeds in regular sequence to the outermost (number 10). In falcons it begins at primary feather 4 and proceeds both outward and inward. Large species tend to replace quills irregularly, perhaps because their greater wing loading would make the lack of several adjacent quills disadvantageous.
Vision, hearing, and smell
The eyes move little in their sockets. To see behind itself, therefore, a falconiform must rotate its head. Forward vision is binocular through 35–50° of arc. The proverbially high resolving power of hawks’ eyes depends partly on a large image being focused on the retina and partly on the concentration of rods and cones. Unlike human eyes, there are two areas of high visual acuity (foveae) instead of one. One fovea is laterally directed for monocular vision, the other forward for binocular vision. In each, the visual cells are still more concentrated, providing resolving power up to eight times that of the human eye. There is a screenlike pecten, which may cast a lattice-like shadow on the retina, permitting good shape perception of moving objects. The iris in many adults is yellow, red, or orange.
Hearing is good but not especially acute. The ear apertures are large, and in harriers and forest falcons they are above average size and surrounded by specially modified feathers, forming partial facial ruffs. The forest falcons live in dense woodlands and are seminocturnal, and the harriers hunt small mammals in long grass—situations where unusually acute hearing would be advantageous.
Except in the New World vultures, which occasionally use their sense of smell to locate food, the olfactory chambers are poorly developed. The sense of smell is normally rudimentary and much less important than sight.