Nankeen Kestrel
Falco cenchroides· 隼科(8 photos)
Photographed In:
Nankeen Kestrel
30-35 cm; span to 80 cm. Female larger. Hovers with tail fanned, black tail band visible from below; hangs motionless in stiff breezes with slender wings crooked back, tail closed and raised. Pale rufous ('nankeen') above, with black flight feathers; whitish below, with black 'teardrop' down through eye. Male: crown and tail pale grey. Female: crown and tail as upperparts; tail finely barred black. Immature: like mottled female. Singles, pairs, family parties, open companies: perches on dead trees, fence and telephone posts. Hovers over grasslands; soars in air currents around city buildings, spires.
- Other name
- Australian Kestrel, 'Sparrowhawk', Windhover.
- Similar Species
- Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Falcon, pale morph with yellow cere, legs.
- Voice
- shrill, rapid 'keekeekeekeekee'; wavering 'keer, keer, keer'.
- Habitat
- grasslands, plains, gibber deserts, foothills, high plains, beach wastes, dunes, cliffs, farmlands, ploughed land, crops, roadsides, grain silos, railyards, buildings.
- Breeding
- Aug.-Dec.
- Nest
- in tree hollow; ledge or cavity in cliff or building; old nest of other raptor, corvid, babbler orchough.
- Eggs
- 3-4 (5); pale buff, closely mottled red-brown.
- Range & Status
- widespread mainland Aust.; in Tas., uncommon, nonbreeding visitor. Sedentary, part-migratory, nomadic: with movement to n. Aust. in winter, s. Aust. in summer; down from high country in autumn. Irruptive in response to local abundance of house mice, grasshoppers. Also Lord Howe I., Christmas I., NG, Indonesia, where possibly winter migrant.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Falco cenchroides cenchroides
