Black kestrel. Falcon kestrel (steppe, common): description of a bird of prey with photos and videos: where does the kestrel live, what does it eat. Kestrel sightings

common kestrel- and all the falcons living with us, and maybe even birds of prey in general, it is the most numerous. Go out into the field in the summer and you will see a small falcon hovering above the ground, fluttering its wings. This is the kestrel. She is recognized by the predominant red color of the plumage, and by the long, slightly stepped tail.

The male kestrel is somewhat brighter than the female. It has a gray head and a tail of the same color, at the end of which a wide black stripe is visible. The color of the female is more uniform, the entire upperparts are reddish with dark streaks. The length of the kestrel is about 33.6 cm, the wingspan is 77.4-80.5 cm, the body weight of the female is 181. The male is 213 g.

Inferior surface of the paw of a female kestrel

Unlike many falcons, the kestrel's diet is mixed. She catches both small rodents and large insects equally often. Birds also play a significant role in nutrition, but rodents and insects make up its basis. The method of obtaining food is very peculiar and different from the methods of hunting most other falcons. The kestrel flies around the fields at a height of 25-30 m, sometimes stopping in the air and "shaking" - fluttering its wings. Seeing the prey, she falls on it and grabs it with her paws.

Of the animals, voles and field mice most often become victims of the kestrel. Other rodents, such as mice, steppe lemmings and hamsters, she catches less often. It is also capable of overcoming larger prey - long-tailed ground squirrel, hamster, jerboa, water rat. There have even been cases of kestrel attacking weasel and ermine. From birds, the kestrel catches larks, sparrows, wheatears, quails.

These are mainly chicks or young fledgling birds that have recently left the nest. Prey objects depend on what species of animals and birds are most numerous and available in the area where the kestrel hunts. In addition to small animals and birds, she will not miss the opportunity to grab a lizard.

It also catches large insects on the ground, preferring the largest fillies and grasshoppers. Having seized an animal or a bird, the kestrel kills it, punching the back of the head with its beak, after which it carries it to the perch. Often this is a small boundary post, a stone, the edge of a cliff, or just a bump.

At the places of eating the victims on the perches or under them, quite characteristic food remains are found. From small rodents, the kestrel most often leaves the front part of the head (up to the eyes), the stomach and scraps of intestines. Fragments of rigid elytra, sometimes paws and cephalothorax, remain from large beetles.

Grasshoppers, apparently, she eats whole. A filly caught but not eaten by a kestrel had a cephalothorax injury inflicted by its beak. From the captured rocky nuthatch, only a part of the wing with separate feathers remained.

Paw print and footprints of a male kestrel that landed near a puddle and then walked on soft clay

Kestrels butcher their prey often on the same perches many times, so there, in addition to food residues, you can also find its pellets. These are small oval lumps, most often gray in color, about 2.2 x 1.5 cm in size, and sometimes larger, up to 4.5 x 2.2.

When feeding on rodents with long hair, such as gerbils, one end of the pellet is very pointed. Most often, the pellet consists of the hair of small animals and fragments of insects interspersed in it. Kestrel droppings - a semi-liquid white drop about 2-2.5 cm in diameter - thicker and darker at one edge.

Despite the fact that the kestrel constantly sits on the ground, preying on small animals, its paw prints are rare, although more often than the paw prints of other falcons. As a rule, due to the dryness of the soil where the predator descends, the tracks are very fuzzy. The size of the print is 6 × 4.5, the claws are 0.8 cm long. , in which it was impossible to make out the details of the print.

The kestrel is a migratory bird. In the middle lane, it appears between March 28 and April 20, and disappears in early October. But in warm winters and in “harvest” years for mice, individual kestrels remain with us for a very long time. Once I noticed a kestrel that was pecking at a field mouse, sitting on the skeleton of a hut left by hunters since spring, it was not far from the river. Pakhry in December 1994

And at the end of November 2001, in approximately the same places, but on the other side of this river, I found a kestrel perch and watched how the bird successfully hunted voles, whose holes dug up the entire field. Arriving at this perch (it was a lone young birch tree standing in the middle of the arable land) at the beginning of spring, I found a large number of kestrel pellets under the tree. So the bird has been here for a very long time.

The kestrel can also hunt flying insects in the air. Once in northern Mongolia, I managed to observe the hunting of kestrels and red-footed falcons on hoverflies hanging in the air. I was sitting on the top of a low mountain, and the birds were hunting at the same level as me. Through binoculars it was clearly visible how they flew up to insects hovering in one place and grabbed them with their outstretched paw.

These birds nest in different ways, depending on their habitat. In the middle lane in the forest zone, kestrel nests are located on tall trees, usually near the edges or forest clearings. Most often, she occupies the old nests of crows, rooks or magpies, but she can build a nest herself. It is usually located not lower than 8-15 m from the ground. Full clutches of 4-5 or 6-7 eggs can be found from the second half of May. Departure of chicks falls on the first half of July.

In the steppe zone, kestrels settle on bell towers, along clay cliffs of steppe beams, in the mountains - often in stone niches. Under the nests, towards the end of nesting, both pellets and food remains can be easily found. In the southern regions of Russia, along with the common kestrel, the steppe kestrel can be found.

It is only slightly smaller than usual and differs from it with a solid red back and light claws. In all other respects - both in behavior and in the traces left, these birds are very similar - the length of the female paw print is 6.1 cm; 1st finger 1.8 cm, 2nd - 3.1; 3rd - 4.4, 4th - 3.7; claw length about 0.7 cm; heel size 1.2×1.2 cm.

The kestrel falcon is a bird of prey, resembling a dove in size. The name of this bird is explained by the fact that, unlike many birds of prey, the kestrel does not catch prey on the fly. Because of this feature, a person does not use it in falconry. The kestrel is an empty, useless bird for a hunter.

The common kestrel is distributed throughout Eurasia and Africa. The steppe kestrel has the same habitat, with the only difference being that, unlike the common kestrel, the steppe kestrel is a rather rare bird.

The common kestrel for settlement chooses floodplain sections of rivers, forests and copses, and the steppe kestrel settles mainly in the steppes, forest-steppe and semi-deserts, forming entire colonies.

Recently, with the advance of civilization on the natural habitat of the kestrel, this bird began to arrange its dwellings near humans, having firmly settled in large European cities.

The common kestrel is somewhat larger than the steppe kestrel and its weight is about 200 grams for the male and about 300 grams for the female. The steppe kestrel is more elegant than the common one and its weight ranges from 100 to 200 grams. These two species differ in plumage. The common kestrel has a more modest coloration, while the steppe kestrel looks much brighter and more spectacular due to the buffy-rufous back, black border on the tail and wings, and a distinctly blue head.

The gastronomic preferences of these two types of kestrels are also somewhat different. The common kestrel loves to feast on mice, lizards and large insects. Flying low over fields and meadows, the bird looks out for its prey all day long. Having noticed its prey, the kestrel flutters its wings and hangs in the air in one place, and seizing the opportunity, dives sharply down and grabs its prey.

The steppe kestrel prefers insects, which it catches on the fly, hovering in the air with outstretched wings. This type of kestrel looks out for prey by moving along the surface of the earth. In this way, the kestrel seeks out and eats a large number of locusts, lizards, small birds and rodents.

Sharp eyesight and strong clawed feet help these feathered predators quickly track down prey and deal with it. It should be noted that the common kestrel is able to see ultraviolet radiation, which gives it the ability to track urine marks left by rodents, and therefore the rodents themselves.

The common kestrel arranges its nest mainly on a separately growing tree in a hollow. Sometimes the bird nests along the steep banks of rivers or on rocks. During the nesting period, the steppe kestrel prefers crevices and niches in the rocks, but, like the common kestrel, it sometimes chooses tree hollows, rocky and steep river banks for nesting, and can also settle in holes. It is noteworthy that the steppe kestrel does not burden itself with building a nest, but lays its eggs directly on the rocks, or occupies other people's nests.

Kestrels of both species lay 4 - 5 eggs for breeding. Hatched kestrel chicks first have claws and a white beak and are covered with white fluff. As they grow older, the plumage, beak and claws change their color.
Parents take care of their chicks together. At this time, they actively destroy rodents and insects - pests of the fields, thereby benefiting agriculture.

If the number of the common kestrel is at a sufficient level, then the number of individuals of the steppe kestrel is alarming. Therefore, recently, work is underway to increase the number of these birds and create favorable conditions for their reproduction.

The common kestrel belongs to the genus falcons and forms a separate species that lives in Europe, western regions of Asia and North Africa. Some birds lead a sedentary lifestyle, and some migrate. It depends mainly on the amount of food in the nesting areas. But, as a rule, from the northern regions of Europe and Asia, there is a complete migration to the south of Europe and the African continent. Moreover, young birds fly further, and mature falcons choose places closer. From Russia, kestrels usually move to the eastern regions of the Mediterranean Sea, where they spend the winter months.

This species does not live in dense forests or in the bare steppe. Birds prefer copses, edges, as well as places with low vegetation. At the same time, for these predators, the food base is the determining indicator. Therefore, they adapt to those areas where there is a lot of food. This is especially true in mountainous areas. Individual representatives of the population were met even at an altitude of 5 thousand meters. Small falcons also come across in European cities, where they arrange nests. Food is obtained in suburban areas and can move away from the nest at a distance of 5-6 km.

Representatives of this species are small in size. In length, the common kestrel reaches 33-39 cm. The wing length is 24-29 cm. The wingspan is 65-81 cm. Females are noticeably larger than males and weigh an average of 185 grams. The maximum weight reaches 315 grams. The average weight of a male is 160 grams. The maximum reaches 260 grams. At the same time, males maintain the same weight throughout the year. In females, it reaches a maximum during the laying period. The heavier the bird, the larger the clutch, and the offspring are more viable.

The small predator is notable for its long tail and wings. The color of plumage in females and males differs in color, that is, there is sexual dimorphism. The male has a gray head and tail. The general background is pale red. There are rounded black spots on the back. Flight feathers are almost black above. The end of the tail is bordered by a wide black stripe with white edges. The throat is light in color.

In the female, the head and upper body is ocher-red in color. It is diluted with transverse dark stripes. Flight feathers are dark brown. The tail is brown and is marked with numerous dark stripes. At the end there is a wide dark stripe with a light border. Young birds are similar in plumage color to females. But their wings are more rounded and shorter in length. Both sexes have yellow rings around their eyes. The wax has the same color. Legs are bright yellow. Black fingernails. The beak has a dark gray tint.

Reproduction and lifespan

Common kestrel, living in the central and northern regions of Eurasia, nests in April, May. Birds that have chosen for themselves the southern regions of Europe and Africa lay their eggs from August to December. The falcon does not build its nests. They settle in rocks, in hollows of trees, abandoned nests of other birds are also used. Sometimes the masonry is located in a shallow hole on the ground or in man-made structures.

A small feathered predator during the incubation period peacefully coexists with songbirds. Their masonry can be located nearby. Sometimes kestrels form a colony, in which there can be several dozen pairs of birds. Incubation lasts 4 weeks. Both parents take part in it. The clutch usually contains 3-6 eggs. The maximum number reaches 8 eggs, and the minimum is 2 eggs.

The hatched chicks are covered with white down. Then it gradually becomes greyish-white. The claws are white, the beak is also white. After a week, the beak begins to turn gray, and the claws turn black. The chicks fledge quickly and become winged a month after birth. But for another month, young birds live with their parents. During this period, they learn the rules of hunting.

Sexual maturity in these falcons occurs in the next breeding season. The kestrel lives in the wild for 15-16 years. The maximum life expectancy is 22-24 years. Mortality among young birds reaches 50%.

Behavior and nutrition

The little falcon feeds mainly on voles, shrews and mice. It also eats lizards, earthworms, insects, frogs, bats. From birds, sparrows and chicks of pigeons are preferred. The common kestrel kills its prey with a blow to the back of the head with its beak. She needs 6 to 8 voles a day. The hunting technique is the most diverse. A feathered predator can sit on a hill and look out for prey on the ground. Seeing the victim, he rushes at her.

The bird can also search for prey by moving in the air, at a height of 10-20 meters from the ground. In this case, the so-called fluttering flight is observed. The falcon freezes in one place, thanks to the frequent flapping of its wings. A similar tactic is used in places of mass accumulation of rodents. This is determined by the traces of urine on the ground. Kestrel perceives near ultraviolet light, in which the color of urine is well displayed. Having found the prey, the small predator falls on it like a stone. Hunting can be carried out directly on the ground for worms, shrews, lizards, frogs or in flight for small birds.

population

This species is not endangered and is not listed in the Red Book. In total, there are 2 million pairs of these birds in the world. Approximately 25% of them live in Europe. The common kestrel is not suitable for falconry. It is assumed that this is where its name came from, that is, an empty bird that is not capable of catching prey for people.

The common kestrel (lat. Falco tinnunculus) is a bird from the falconiformes order of the falcon family, the most common bird of prey in Central Europe after the buzzard. Bird of 2007 in Germany and 2006 in Switzerland, symbol of SOPR (Union for the Protection of Birds of Russia) 2002. Recently, the bird has been more and more fond of cities and the territories adjacent to them, settling in close proximity to humans. Has the ability to flutter flight. The common kestrel owes its scientific name tinnunculus to its tee-tee-tee-tee voice, which varies in color, pitch, and frequency depending on the situation. Latin tinnunculus translates as sonorous or ringing. Other names. It is believed that in the East Slavic languages, the kestrel comes from the word "empty", most likely because the bird is unsuitable for falconry. According to another version, the bird got the name "kestrel" from the method of hunting in open spaces (pastures) and comes from the stem "pas" (it sounded like "pastel") and had the meaning "looking out".

common kestrel

During the hunt, the kestrel hangs in the air, often fluttering its wings and looking out for prey. Noticing a mouse or a large insect, it rapidly falls down. During the day, an adult kestrel eats about a dozen rodents.

The visual acuity of the common kestrel is 2.6 times higher than that of a human. A person with such vision could read the entire vision chart from a distance of 90 meters. In addition, this bird sees ultraviolet light, which means urine marks left by rodents (urine glows brightly in ultraviolet light and the fresher, the brighter), near which the rodent is almost certainly located.

In the plumage of the kestrel, sexual dimorphism is expressed. A striking feature that distinguishes males from females is the color of the head. The male has a light gray head, while the female has a uniform brownish-brown color. In addition, small black spots, partly diamond-shaped, can be distinguished on the brown back of the male. The upper tail coverts of the male, the back of the back (loin) and tail feathers (the tail itself) are also light gray. At the end of the tail there are distinct black stripes with a white border. The undertail is light cream in color with a slight pattern of brownish stripes or spots. The hypogastric region and the underside of the wing are almost white.

Adult females are distinguished by a dark transverse band on the back, as well as a brown tail with a large number of transverse stripes and a clear border at the end. The lower part of the body is darker than in males and more heavily mottled. Young birds resemble females in their plumage. However, their wings are shorter and rounder in shape than those of adults. In addition, the tops of the flight feathers of fledglings have light borders. The cere and ring around the eyes are yellow in adult birds, while in chicks they are light blue to light green in color.

The tail of birds of both sexes is rounded, since the outer tail feathers are shorter than the middle ones. In adult birds, the ends of the wings reach the end of the tail. The legs are densely yellow, the claws are black.

The body size and wingspan of the kestrel vary greatly depending on the subspecies and individual. In the European subspecies Falco tinnunculus tinnunculus, males reach an average of 34.5 centimeters in length, and females 36 centimeters. The wingspan of the male is on average almost 75 centimeters, while that of the largest females is 76 centimeters.

Normally fed males weigh an average of 200 grams, females are on average 20 grams heavier. Males, as a rule, maintain a constant weight throughout the year, and the weight of females fluctuates markedly: females weigh the most during the laying period (more than 300 grams with a normal diet). At the same time, a positive correlation is observed between the weight of the female and the result of incubation: heavy females make large clutches and successfully raise offspring.

A female kestrel in fluttering flight, wings and tail fanned out as far as possible

The kestrel is well known for its spectacular fluttering flight. She uses it to search for prey, hovering in place at a height of 10-20 meters and looking for a suitable object of hunting. At the same time, the flapping of the wings is very fast and frequent, the tail is turned like a fan and slightly lowered down. The wings move in one wide horizontal plane and simultaneously move large masses of air. Having noticed potential prey, for example, a vole, the kestrel dives down and grabs it, slowing down already at the very ground.

A quick overflight of hunting grounds - cross-country flight - is achieved with the help of swift wing beats. When the wind is favorable, or in the process of eating prey, the kestrel can also glide.

Studies have shown that females have 11 different sound signals, and males have more than nine. Among them, several samples can be distinguished, which vary in volume, pitch and frequency of sound depending on the situation. In addition, in both females and males, the chick signal for food begging varies. This type of signal is especially well heard during the mating season - it is emitted by females when they beg for food from males (one of the stages of courtship). The sound of ti, ti, ti, which some authors also describe as kikiki, is a signal of excitation, it is primarily audible if the bird is disturbed on the nest. A variant of this call, however, sounds shortly before the male brings the prey to the nest.

A characteristic example of the distribution of the kestrel in the Old World is its discovery in Europe, Asia and Africa, where it inhabited almost all climatic zones of Paleofaunistics, Ethiopia and the East. The kestrel is more common in the plains. Within this vast range, a number of subspecies have been described, the number of which varies from author to author.

With the help of banding, it became possible to track the flights of the kestrel. As a result of such studies, it is now known that the kestrel can be both a sedentary bird and a nomadic one, as well as a pronounced migratory one. Its migratory behavior is mainly affected by the state of the food supply in the nesting area.

Kestrels nesting in Scandinavia or around the Baltic Sea mainly migrate in winter to Southern Europe. In years when the vole population surge occurs, southwestern Finland has also seen kestrels wintering with the Rough-footed and Common Buzzards. In addition, detailed studies have shown that birds nesting in central Sweden migrate to Spain and partly even to North Africa. Birds from southern Sweden, on the contrary, winter mainly in Poland, Germany, Belgium and northern France.

The birds that nest in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are mostly sedentary and nomadic. Only a few individuals make long-distance flights and winter in regions where birds from Scandinavia can also be found. Kestrels of northern Asia and eastern Europe migrate to the southwest, with younger birds often migrating furthest. Their wintering grounds, along with the south of Europe, also include Africa, where they reach the borders of the tropical rainforest. Birds nesting in the European part of Russia also use the eastern Mediterranean region for wintering.

Wintering grounds for Asian kestrel populations stretch from the Caspian Sea and southern Central Asia to Iraq and northern Iran. This also includes the northern part of Front India. Also, birds of Asian populations are sedentary or nomadic, if there is enough prey in their area of ​​\u200b\u200bresidence in winter.

Kestrel Planning

Kestrels are so-called horizontal-vertical migrants who do not follow traditional routes and mostly roam alone. So, for example, in 1973, about 210 thousand diurnal birds of prey migrated through the Strait of Gibraltar, of which almost 121 thousand were honey beetles, and only 1237 kestrels. This figure indicates, firstly, that this bird, often found in Central Europe, only partly winters in Africa, and secondly, that it flies across the Mediterranean Sea on a wide front.

During migration, kestrels fly relatively low and mostly stay at a height of 40 to 100 meters. They continue to fly even in bad weather and are not as dependent on updrafts (thermal) as other birds of prey. Therefore, they even fly over the Alps, which are very rarely crossed by birds of prey dependent on updrafts, such as buzzards, for example. When migrating through the Alps, kestrels use mostly passes, but also fly over peaks and glaciers.

The kestrel is a highly adaptable species that is found in a wide variety of habitats. In general, kestrels avoid both dense enclosed forest spaces and completely treeless steppes. In Central Europe, they are frequent inhabitants of cultivated landscapes, copses and forest edges. The kestrel uses open areas with low vegetation as the main hunting grounds. Where there are no trees, it nests on power poles. In the 1950s, a kestrel nesting on bare ground was described in Orkney.

Along with the availability of suitable conditions for nesting, the criterion for choosing a habitat for the kestrel is also the availability of a food supply. Given enough prey, these birds of prey adapt very well to different altitudes. Thus, in the Harz Mountains and the Ore Mountains, there is a connection between the presence of their main prey, the vole, and the height limit to which they occur. In the Harz, the kestrel is noticeably less common at altitudes above 600 meters above sea level. m. and almost never occurs at an altitude of 900 meters. In the Alps, where it uses a different range of prey, it can be observed in the process of hunting in mountain pastures at an altitude of 2000 meters. In the Caucasus, the kestrel is found at an altitude of 3400 meters, in the Pamirs at an altitude of more than 4000 meters. In Nepal, its habitats stretch from the lowlands to 5,000 meters; in Tibet, the kestrel can be observed in the highlands at 5,500 meters.

The kestrel also conquers urban landscapes as a habitat. The benefit of such "synanthropization" is that hunting grounds and nesting sites should be separated in space. Naturally, falcons nesting in cities often have to fly far to find their traditional prey - mice. Thus, kestrels nesting in the tower of the Church of Our Lady in Munich make flights of at least three kilometers for each mouse. Studies have shown that kestrels can move up to 5 kilometers from the nest to the hunting place. However, a number of urban nesting individuals show changes in hunting patterns and prey spectrum, which are described in more detail in the Hunting Methods section.

An example of a city inhabited by kestrels is Berlin. Since the late 1980s, a Berlin group of specialists on kestrel from the German Nature Conservation Association (Naturschutzbund Deutschland) has been studying these birds in urban environments. Of course, the city poses a certain danger to animals. Regularly, kestrels become victims of cars, hitting glass. Often the chicks fall out of the nests, they are found weakened. Every year the specialists of the Union rescue up to 50 birds.

Kestrels living in open spaces mainly feed on small mammals, such as voles and mice themselves. Kestrels in the cities also catch small songbirds, mostly house sparrows. Which animals will make up the bulk of the prey depends on local conditions. Studies on the island of Amrum have shown that kestrels there prefer to prey on water rats. In contrast to large cities, most of the prey of kestrel in small towns is the common vole. In addition, kestrels may feed on lizards (mostly in southern European countries), and occasionally earthworms, as well as insects such as grasshoppers and beetles. Such prey is caught by nesting kestrels if there is a decline in the number of small mammals. Fledglings also feed on insects and large invertebrates at first, and only with the acquisition of experience do they begin to hunt small mammals.

Kestrel with a rodent

A free-living kestrel should eat about 25% of its body weight daily. Autopsies of birds killed in accidents have shown that kestrels have an average of two half-digested mice in their stomachs.

The kestrel is a type of bird of prey that seizes its prey with its claws and kills it with a blow of its beak to the back of the head. Partially, the hunt proceeds from a perch, in which the falcon uses a palisade, telegraph poles or tree branches, looking out for a victim from there. A fluttering flight is typical of the kestrel. This is a highly specialized form of controlled flight, in which the falcon "stands" in the air for a long time in a certain place, making very frequent flapping of its wings, which is very energy-consuming. However, with a strong headwind, the bird uses some tricks to save energy. While the falcon's head is in a fixed position, its body slides back for a fraction of a second until the neck is stretched to the maximum. Then he again moves forward with active beats of the wings until the neck is bent as much as possible. Energy savings compared to continuous fluttering flight is 44%. In addition, the fluttering flight is always made over such places where the kestrel, by the traces of urine visible to it, suggests the presence of a large amount of prey.

Hunting on the fly is practiced by kestrels only under special conditions. It occurs when city birds need to surprise a flock of songbirds, or when a large group of small birds is found in farmland. It seems that some urban falcons mostly switch to bird hunting in order to survive in urban environments. In addition, at least a few individuals regularly prey on feral rock pigeon chicks. Sometimes you can see how young kestrels search for earthworms in freshly plowed fields.

Most often, hunting from a perch is practiced by kestrels in winter. In the UK in January and February, kestrels spend 85% of their hunting time hunting from a perch and only 15% in fluttering flight. From May to August, these hunting methods take almost the same time. At the same time, hunting from a perch is, as a rule, a long and ineffective way; only 9% of attacks on the victim in winter and 20% in summer are successful. In fluttering flight, on the contrary, the kestrel succeeds in 16% of attacks in winter, and 21% in summer. The decisive factor for changing the way of hunting is, however, the energy costs associated with fluttering flight. In summer, the energy costs of catching one mouse in both ways are equally high. In winter, the cost of energy to catch a mouse from a perch is half as much as when hunting in a fluttering flight. Thus, by changing the methods of hunting, the kestrel optimizes its energy consumption.

Mating flights of kestrels in Central Europe can be observed from March to April. At the same time, males make intermittent flapping of their wings, make a half-turn around their axis and then quickly slide down. During these flights, which mainly serve to mark the boundaries of the site, excited screams are heard.

The invitation to mate mostly comes from the female, who descends close to the male and makes a sound derived from the signal of the chick begging for food. After mating, the male flies to the selected nesting site and calls the female with a ringing "tick". In the nest, the male exhibits two types of mating behavior, one of which transitions into the other. With a loud "poking", he fits into the nest tray, as if about to incubate the masonry, scratches with his claws and thus deepens the tray. When the female appears at the edge of the nest, the male rises again and makes excited jumps up and down. Usually, at the same time, he offers the female prey placed in the nest in advance in the beak.

The age of the oldest individuals in the wild, determined by the ringing of birds, corresponds to 16 years. However, the likelihood of young birds surviving the one-year mark is low, at only about 50%. High mortality of birds is noted in January and February, during this period, representatives of the species die due to lack of food.

Lifestyle

During the hunt, the kestrel hangs in the air, often fluttering its wings and looking out for prey. Noticing a mouse or a large insect, it rapidly falls down. During the day, an adult kestrel eats about a dozen rodents.

The visual acuity of the common kestrel is 2.6 times higher than that of a human. A person with such vision could read the entire vision chart from a distance of 90 meters. In addition, this bird sees ultraviolet light, which means urine marks left by rodents (urine glows brightly in ultraviolet light and the fresher, the brighter), near which there is almost certainly a rodent.

Name etymology

scientific name tinnunculus the common kestrel owes its voice, reminiscent of the sounds " ti-ti-ti-ti”, the color, height and frequency of which vary depending on the situation. latin tinnunculus translates as sonorous or ringing.

Wintering places

The birds that nest in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are mostly sedentary and nomadic. Only a few individuals make long-distance flights and winter in regions where birds from Scandinavia can also be found. Kestrels of northern Asia and eastern Europe migrate to the southwest, with younger birds often migrating furthest. Their wintering grounds, along with the south of Europe, also include Africa, where they reach the borders of the tropical rainforest. Birds nesting in European Russia also use the eastern Mediterranean region for wintering.

Wintering grounds for Asian kestrel populations stretch from the Caspian and southern Central Asia to Iraq and northern Iran. This also includes the northern part of Front India. Also, birds of Asian populations are sedentary or nomadic, if there is enough prey in their area of ​​\u200b\u200bresidence in winter.

Migration behavior

Kestrels are so-called horizontal-vertical migrants who do not follow traditional routes and mostly roam alone. So, for example, in 1973, about 210 thousand diurnal birds of prey migrated through the Strait of Gibraltar, of which almost 121 thousand were honey beetles, and only 1237 kestrels. This figure indicates, firstly, that this bird, often found in Central Europe, only partly winters in Africa, and secondly, that it flies across the Mediterranean Sea on a wide front.

During migration, kestrels fly relatively low and mostly stay at an altitude of 40 to 100 m. The flight is not interrupted even in bad weather. Kestrels are less dependent on updrafts than other birds of prey, so they can even fly over the Alps. Migration through the mountains is mainly carried out along the passes, but if necessary, the birds fly over the peaks and glaciers.

Habitat

Typical habitats of the kestrel

The kestrel is a highly adaptable species that is found in a wide variety of habitats. In general, kestrels avoid both dense enclosed forest spaces and completely treeless steppes. In Central Europe, they are frequent inhabitants of cultivated landscapes, copses and forest edges. The kestrel uses open areas with low vegetation as the main hunting grounds. Where there are no trees, it nests on power poles. In the 1950s, a kestrel nesting on bare ground was described in Orkney.

Along with the availability of suitable conditions for nesting, the criterion for choosing a habitat for the kestrel is also the availability of a food supply. Given enough prey, these birds of prey adapt very well to different altitudes. Thus, in the Harz Mountains and the Ore Mountains, there is a connection between the presence of their main prey, the vole, and the height limit to which they occur. In the Harz, the kestrel is noticeably less common at altitudes above 600 meters above sea level and almost never occurs at altitudes of 900 meters. In the Alps, where it uses a different range of prey, it can be observed in the process of hunting in mountain pastures at an altitude of 2000 meters. In the Caucasus, the kestrel is found at an altitude of 3400 meters, in the Pamirs at an altitude of more than 4000 meters. In Nepal, its habitats stretch from the lowlands to 5,000 meters; in Tibet, the kestrel can be observed in the highlands at 5,500 meters.

Kestrel as synanthropus

The kestrel also conquers urban landscapes as a habitat. The benefit of such "synanthropization" is that hunting grounds and nesting sites should be separated in space. Naturally, falcons nesting in cities often have to fly far to find their traditional prey - mice. Thus, kestrels nesting in the tower of the Church of Our Lady in Munich make flights of at least three kilometers for each mouse. Studies have shown that kestrels can move up to 5 km from the nest to the hunting place. However, a number of urban nesting individuals show changes in hunting patterns and prey spectrum, which are described in more detail in the Hunting Methods section.

An example of a city inhabited by kestrels is Berlin. Since the late 1980s, the German Kestrel Research Group (Naturschutzbund Deutschland) in Berlin has been studying these birds in urban environments. Of course, the city poses a certain danger to animals. Regularly, kestrels become victims of cars, hitting glass. Often the chicks fall out of the nests, they are found weakened. Every year the specialists of the Union rescue up to 50 birds.

Nutrition and eating behavior

Mining

Kestrels living in open spaces mainly feed on small mammals, such as (mostly in southern European countries), Hunt from a perch, fluttering flight and hunting on the fly

The kestrel is a type of bird of prey that seizes its prey with its claws and kills it with a blow of its beak to the back of the head. Partially, the hunt proceeds from a perch, in which the falcon uses a palisade, telegraph poles or tree branches, looking out for a victim from there. Fluttering flight is typical of the kestrel. This is a highly specialized form of controlled flight, in which the falcon "stands" in the air for a long time in a certain place, making very frequent flapping of its wings, which is very energy-consuming. However, with a strong headwind, the bird uses some tricks to save energy. While the falcon's head is in a fixed position, its body slides back for a fraction of a second until the neck is stretched to the maximum. Then he again moves forward with active beats of the wings until the neck is bent as much as possible. Energy savings compared to continuous fluttering flight is 44%. In addition, the fluttering flight is always made over such places where the kestrel, by the traces of urine visible to it, suggests the presence of a large amount of prey.

Hunting on the fly is practiced by kestrels only under special conditions. It occurs when urban birds need to surprise a flock of songbirds, or when a large group of small birds is found in farmland. It is possible that some urban falcons and kestrels mostly switch to bird hunting in order to survive in urban environments. In addition, at least a few individuals regularly prey on feral rock dove chicks.

Sometimes you can see how young kestrels search for earthworms in freshly plowed fields.

Energy optimization - hunting methods in comparison

Most often, hunting from a perch is practiced by kestrels in winter. In the UK in January and February, kestrels spend 85% of their hunting time hunting from a perch and only 15% in fluttering flight. From May to August, these hunting methods take almost the same time. At the same time, hunting from a perch is, as a rule, a long and ineffective way; only 9% of attacks on the victim in winter and 20% in summer are successful. In fluttering flight, on the contrary, the kestrel succeeds in 16% of attacks in winter, and 21% in summer. The decisive factor for changing the way of hunting is, however, the energy costs associated with fluttering flight. In summer, the energy costs of catching one mouse in both ways are equally high. In winter, the cost of energy to catch a mouse from a perch is half as much as when hunting in a fluttering flight. Thus, by changing the methods of hunting, the kestrel optimizes its energy consumption.

reproduction

mating games

Mating flights of kestrels in Central Europe can be observed from March to April. At the same time, males make intermittent flapping of their wings, make a half-turn around their axis and then quickly slide down. During these flights, which mainly serve to mark the boundaries of the site, excited screams are heard.

The invitation to mate mostly comes from the female, who descends close to the male and makes a sound derived from the signal of the chick begging for food. After mating, the male flies to the selected nesting site and calls the female with a ringing "tick". In the nest, the male exhibits two types of mating behavior, one of which transitions into the other. With a loud "poking", he fits into the nest tray, as if about to incubate the masonry, scratches with his claws and thus deepens the tray. When the female appears at the edge of the nest, the male rises again and makes excited jumps up and down. Usually, at the same time, he offers the female prey placed in the nest in advance in the beak.