The Falco Eleonorae is a dark, medium-sized migratory hawk with long wings that appears in the Mediterranean in April, returning from their wintering areas in East Africa, particularly Madagascar. The adult birds have two color phases: one dark, almost one full black and, one most common, open phase in which the body is light red-brown with elongated streaks. However, even in field conditions even the colored phase shows a very dark, almost black bird. It has gregarious habits while individuals may be confused with Peregrine (Falcon peregrinus), but these are more stocky and have shorter tail.