Barbary Falcon
Two of the subspecies listed above (Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides and F. p. babylonicus) are often instead treated together as a distinct species, Falco pelegrinoides (Barbary Falcon), although they were included within F. peregrinus in the 1994 Handbook of the Birds of the World. These birds inhabit arid regions from the Canary Islands along the rim of the Sahara through the Middle East to Central Asia and Mongolia.
Barbary Falcons have a red neck patch but otherwise differ in appearance from the Peregrine proper merely according to Gloger's Rule, relating pigmentation to environmental humidity. The Barbary Falcon has a peculiar way of flying, beating only the outer part of its wings like fulmars sometimes do; this also occurs in the Peregrine, but less often and far less pronounced. The Barbary Falcon's shoulder and pelvis bones are stout by comparison with the Peregrine, and its feet are smaller. Barbary Falcons breed at different times of year than neighboring Peregrine Falcon subspecies, but there are no postzygotic reproduction barriers in place. There is a 0.6–0.7% genetic distance in the Peregine-Barbary Falcon ("peregrinoid") complex.
Another subspecies of Falco peregrinus, madens, has also sometimes been treated instead within a separately recognized F. pelegrinoides.
Read more about this topic: Peregrine Falcon, Taxonomy and Systematics
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