Dickinson's kestrel
| Dickinson's kestrel | |
|---|---|
_(23164736424).jpg)
| |
| in Liwonde, Malawi | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Falconiformes |
| Family: | Falconidae |
| Genus: | Falco |
| Species: | F. dickinsoni
|
| Binomial name | |
| Falco dickinsoni Sclater, PL, 1864
| |
Dickinson's kestrel (Falco dickinsoni) is a
type specimen. It is also known as the white-rumped kestrel. Its closest relatives are the grey kestrel and banded kestrel and the three are sometimes placed in the subgenus
Dissodectes.
Description
It is a fairly small, stocky
cere and feet are yellow and there is bare yellow skin around the eye. The bill is dark grey and the eyes are brown. Juvenile
birds are grey-brown with barred flanks and without the paler head and rump. They have a greenish cere and eye-ring.
It is usually silent but has a high-pitched alarm and contact call. At the nest, a soft, mewing call attracts the young for feeding.
Distribution and habitat
It inhabits
baobab trees. It occurs in coconut
plantations in some areas.
Its range covers most of
Pemba
Islands. Loss of palm trees is a potential threat to the species.
Behaviour
It usually hunts from a perch and only occasionally hovers. Large
. It is often attracted to grass fires where it preys on fleeing insects and other prey.The breeding season lasts from July to October in Tanzania and September to December further south. The nest is a simple scrape with no material used. It is sited 2 to 18 m (6.6 to 59.1 ft) above the ground in the crown of a dead palm or in a hole in a baobab. Sometimes the old nest of a
incubated by the female for at least 30 days. The young birds fledge
after approximately 33 to 35 days.
References
- . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ "Falco dickinsoni".
- Beolens, Bo & Watkins, Michael (2003) Whose Bird?: Men and women commemorated in the common names of birds, Christopher Helm, London.
- Channing, Keith (2007) The Hawk Conservancy Trust: Dickinson's Kestrel - Falco dickinsoni. Accessed 01/07/07.
- Ferguson-Lees, James & Christie, David A. (2001) Raptors of the World, Christopher Helm, London.
- Global Raptor Information Network (2007) Species account: Dickinson's Kestrel Falco dickinsoni. Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine Downloaded from http://www.globalraptors.org on 1 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
Wikispecies has information related to Falco dickinsoni.