Kestrel
3347280
223857766
2008-07-06T04:54:33Z
Bartledan
7245616
Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/71.215.158.106|71.215.158.106]] to last version by Dodger67 (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
{{otheruses}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Kestrel
| image = Common Kestrel 1.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Adult male Common Kestrel
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Aves]]
| ordo = [[Falconiformes]]
| familia = [[Falconidae]]
| genus = ''[[Falcon|Falco]]'' (''partim'')
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision =
See text.
}}
The name '''kestrel''' is given to several different members of the [[falcon]] genus, ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around 10–20 m over open country and swoop down on prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects. Other falcons are more adapted to active hunting on the wing. In addition, kestrels are notable for usually having much brown in their plumage.
Kestrels require a slight headwind in order to hover, hence a local name of ''windhover'' for [[Common Kestrel]].
Plumage often - but unusually for falcons - differs between male and female, and (as is usual with [[monogamous]] [[Bird of prey|raptor]]s) the female is slightly larger than the male. This allows a pair to fill different feeding niches over their home range. Kestrels are bold and have adapted well to human encroachment, nesting in buildings and hunting by major roads.
Kestrels do not build their own nests, but use nests built by other species.
[[Image:kestrel1.jpg|thumb|left|250px| This juvenile American Kestrel is sitting on the roof of a parked car in downtown [[Boston]].]]
Most [[species]] termed kestrels appear to form a distinct [[clade]] among the falcons, as suggested by comparison of [[mtDNA]] [[cytochrome b|cytochrome ''b'']] [[DNA sequence|sequence]] data (Groombridge ''et al.'' 2002<ref>
See there for a careful discussion of the divergence times mentioned in this article.</ref>)
and [[morphology (biology)|morphology]]. This seems to have diverged from other ''Falco'' around the [[Miocene]]-[[Pliocene]] boundary ([[Messinian]] to [[Zanclean]], or about 7-3.5 [[mya (unit)|mya]]). The most [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] "true" kestrels are three species from Africa and its surroundings which lack a [[malar]] stripe, and in one case have - like other falcons but unlike other true kestrels - large areas of gray in their wings.
Approximately during the [[Gelasian]] ([[Late Pliocene]] or [[Early Pleistocene]], around 2.5-2 mya), the main lineage of true kestrels emerged; this contains the species characterized by a malar stripe. This too seems to have [[evolved]] in Africa and subsequently spread across the [[Old World]] until they reached Australia some time during the [[Middle Pleistocene]], less than one million years ago. This group contains several [[taxa]] [[Indian Ocean kestrels|found on Indian Ocean islands]].
More enigmatic is a group of 3 predominantly gray species from Africa and Madagascar. These are usually considered kestrels due to their general shape and habits, but are probably more quite distinct from the true kestrels as outlined above.
The American Kestrel is the only [[New World]] species termed "kestrel". Actually, the molecular data of Groombridge ''et al.'' (2002), as well as morphological peculiarities (like grey wings in males and a black ear-spot) and [[biogeography]], strongly support the view that this species, among the ''Falco'' falcons, is not a kestrel at all in the [[phylogenetic]] sense but perhaps closer to the [[hobby (bird)|hobbies]].
'''Malar-striped clade''' or Common Kestrel group
* [[Madagascar Kestrel]], ''Falco newtoni''
* [[Seychelles Kestrel]], ''Falco araea''
* [[Mauritius Kestrel]], ''Falco punctatus''
* [[Réunion Kestrel]], ''Falco duboisi'' - [[extinct]] (c.[[1700]])
* [[Spotted Kestrel]], ''Falco moluccensis'', found in [[Indonesia]]
* [[Nankeen Kestrel]] or '''Australian Kestrel''', ''Falco cenchroides'', found in [[Australia]] and [[New Guinea]]
* [[Common Kestrel]], ''Falco tinnunculus'', found in [[Europe]], [[Asia]], and [[Africa]]
** Rock Kestrel, ''Falco tinnunculus rupicolus'', found in South Africa
'''Basal lineage(s)''' of true kestrels
* [[Greater Kestrel]], ''Falco rupicoloides'', found in Eastern to South Africa
* [[Fox Kestrel]], ''Falco alopex'', found in Equatorial Africa
* [[Lesser Kestrel]], ''Falco naumanni'', found in southern [[Europe]], [[India]], and most of [[Africa]] except for the [[Sahara]] and equatorial forest areas
'''African gray kestrels''' (a more distant group)
* [[Grey Kestrel]], ''Falco ardosiaceus'', found in Central to Southern Africa
* [[Dickinson's Kestrel]], ''Falco dickinsoni'', found in Eastern to Southern Africa
* [[Banded Kestrel]], ''Falco zoniventris'', found on [[Madagascar]]
'''American Kestrel'''
* [[American Kestrel]], ''Falco sparverius'', found in [[North America]] and [[South America]]
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* {{cite journal|last=Groombridge |first=Jim J. |coauthors=Jones, Carl G.; Bayes, Michelle K.; van Zyl, Anthony J.; Carrillo, José; Nichols, Richard A. & Bruford, Michael W. |year=2002 |title=A molecular phylogeny of African kestrels with reference to divergence across the Indian Ocean. |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=267–277 |doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00254-3}}
==External links==
* [http://www.ibercajalav.net/img/131_KestrelFtinnunculus.pdf Identification guide (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta]
[[Category:Falco|*]]
[[Category:Falcons]]
[[Category:Falconry]]
[[Category:British Isles coastal fauna]]
[[cs:Poštolka]]
[[fr:Crécerelle (oiseau)]]
[[uk:Боривітер]]