The grey kestrel (''Falco ardosiaceus'') is an African bird of prey belonging to the falcon family

Falconidae The falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae (representing all extant species in the order Falconiformes). The family is divided into three subfamilies, Herpetotherinae, which inclu ...

. Its closest relatives are the banded kestrel and

Dickinson's kestrel Dickinson's kestrel (''Falco dickinsoni'') is a bird of prey of southern and eastern Africa belonging to the falcon family Falconidae. It is named after John Dickinson, an English physician and missionary who collected the type specimen. It is a ...

and the three are sometimes placed in the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

''Dissodectes''.

Description

It is a fairly small, stocky kestrel with a large, flat-topped head and fairly short wings that don't reach past the tip of the tail when at rest. It is 28–33 cm long with a wingspan of 58–72 cm and a weight of up to 300 grams. The female is 4-11% larger and 5-11% heavier than the male. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

of the adult is uniformly dark grey apart from darker wingtips, faint dark streaking on the body and slightly barred

flight feather Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...

s. The feet and cere are yellow and there is bare yellow skin around the eye. The most similar species is the sooty falcon which has a more rounded head, long wings extending past the tail and less yellow around the eye.

Juvenile Juvenile may refer to: *Juvenile status, or minor (law), prior to adulthood *Juvenile (organism) *Juvenile (rapper) (born 1975), American rapper * ''Juvenile'' (2000 film), Japanese film * ''Juvenile'' (2017 film) *Juvenile (greyhounds), a greyho ...

grey kestrels are browner than the adults with a greenish cere and greenish around the eye. Juvenile Dickinson's kestrels are similar but have a barred tail and a more strongly barred underwing. The grey kestrel is generally silent outside the breeding season but has a shrill, chattering call and a rattling whistle.

Habitat and range

It inhabits savannas, open woodland and forest clearings. It favours areas with palm trees, especially near water. It often perches on exposed branches, telegraph poles and wires. It is widespread in West and Central Africa but is absent from densely forested regions including parts of the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

. Its range extends east to Ethiopia and western parts of Kenya and Tanzania. In the south it reaches northern parts of Namibia and Zambia and vagrants have appeared in Malawi. The total range covers about 12 million km². In West Africa there is some movement northward in the wet season and southward in the dry season.

Behaviour

It is a

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

bird, most active at dawn and dusk. It generally hunts from a high perch but occasionally hovers. It feeds mainly on insects,

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s and small

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s such as bats but will also take birds,

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s and worms. Prey is usually caught on the ground. It will sometimes feed on oil palm nuts, one of the few birds of prey to eat vegetable matter. Breeding occurs from March to June in the north of its range and from August to December in the south. Courting pairs perform mutual soaring displays. The eggs are usually laid in the nest of a hamerkop; most often an unoccupied nest but occasionally hamerkops will be forced out. Sometimes the kestrels will use the nest of another bird or a hole in a tree. There are two to five eggs in a clutch. They are whitish with reddish or brown markings and are incubated for 26–31 days. The young birds

fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnerable c ...

after about 30 days.

References

*Ferguson-Lees, James & Christie, David A. (2001) ''Raptors of the World'', Christopher Helm, London. *Global Raptor Information Network (2007)
Species account: Grey Kestrel Falco ardosiaceus.
' Downloaded from http://www.globalraptors.org on 2 Aug. 2007. *Sinclair, Ian & Ryan, Peter (2003) ''Birds of Africa south of the Sahara'', Struik, Cape Town. *Zimmerman, Dale A.; Turner, Donald A. & Pearson, David J. (1999) ''Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania'', Christopher Helm, London.

External links

* Grey kestrel
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

{{Taxonbar, from=Q925768

grey kestrel The grey kestrel (''Falco ardosiaceus'') is an African bird of prey belonging to the falcon family Falconidae. Its closest relatives are the banded kestrel and Dickinson's kestrel and the three are sometimes placed in the subgenus ''Dissodectes'' ...

Birds of prey of Sub-Saharan Africa