The common Kestrel is a small, but widespread member of the falcon family. They are also known as the European, the Eurasian or the old-world kestrel and in the UK we just call them kestrels. They are found across most of Europe, north and central Africa and a in lot of countries in asia as far east as Japan. In the UK they don’t migrate but in some parts of their range where temperatures get lower, they will migrate south for the winter.
They have a wingspan of 65 to 80 centimetres and weigh from 135 to 315 grams. These is such a difference between their highest and lowest weights in part because females are noticeably larger than males. They also have different plumage from one another. Males have a grey coloured heads with mottled chestnut brown backs, their tails are also grey and tipped with a black band. Females do not have the distinct grey markings and are mottle brown over their whole bodies, except for their tails which have dark bars across them. Both birds have yellow feet, hooked beaks and large eyes surrounded by a thin yellow rim.
Their diet is mainly made up of small mammals such as voles, mice and shrews but they will also take small birds, lizards, amphibians and even invertebrates such as worms and beetles. To find their prey they often fly on the spot, by facing into and flying at the same speed as the wind, whilst scanning the area below. Its thought that they can see in the ultraviolet light range which means they might be able to spot the urine trails of small mammals even when the animals themselves are out of sight.
Kestrels are mainly monogamous and can start breeding from one year of age, although most of the time it takes until their second year for them to secure a mate and a territory. Once a nest site is chosen, from late April to the middle of may each female will lay between 3 and 6 speckled orange eggs that measure just under 4cm long. These are produced at 2 day intervals but will only be laid if the female is well fed meaning in seasons where food is in low supply, some kestrel pairs will completely fail to breed. The eggs take 27 to 29 days to hatch and are incubated by both parents from after the 3rd or fourth is laid. At first, the chicks are covered in a layer of white down, they aren’t able to maintain their body temperature so are constantly brooded by their mother whilst the male brings a ready supply of food. After 12 days, the chicks are big and feathered enough to be left alone at which point both parents take up the feeding duties. By four weeks of age, the young birds will be fully feathered and begin to branch out away from the nest, often returning to roost in the nest site overnight. Their parents continue to feed them during this time, whilst they learn to find and hunt prey for themselves and after a further 4 weeks, the young birds will be fully independent.
Across their range, kestrel numbers are stable but they have declined In numbers in the UK over the past 25 years. The exact cause of this decline isn’t know but it has been suggested that it’s a combination between a lack of prey caused by changes in farming practices and a lack of suitable nesting sites. There are currently around 31,000 pairs of kestrels in the country and they have an average lifespan in the wild of about 4 years. In captivity they have been known to live to 24 years of age and the oldest known wild bird made it to just shy of 16 years of age.
#Kestrel #britishbirds #nature
Some of the footage used in this video was obtained using creative commons licences. The originals can be found at:
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Thumbnail: www.flickr.com/photos/markkil...
3 ноя 2022
