A rare visitor, a Greenland Gyrfalcon, was caught in a picture by bird photographer Daníel Bergmann in Hornstrandir, the northernmost region of the West Fjords, in mid-March.
Ornithologist Kristinn Haukur Skarphéðinsson at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History told ruv.is that even though the bird is rare, “several such birds are sighted every year, both adults and young birds.”
The difference between the visitor and the domestic falcon breed is that the Greenland Gyrfalcon is almost completely white, while the Icelandic falcon is darker in color.
Kristinn explained that the falcons are of the same species but that their geographical distribution is different. “The white falcons are most common in the northernmost part of the planet and much darker variants than the falcons that reside in Iceland also exist.”
Above is a screenshot of RÚV’s story about the gyrfalcon. Photo: Daníel Bergmann.
Click here to see the story on Daníel’s picture of the Greenland Gyrfalcon.
