David Element
Wildlife
Photography and Digital Video Images
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Birds 10 – Common
Kestrels
COMMON
KESTREL Falco tinnunculus COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
COMMON
KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus and Eurasian Magpie Pica pica
COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus
- The
Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
is the commonest British species of
falcon. These birds are absolute masters of the air and they are equally
at home in urban or rural habitats and by motorways where they may often
be observed hanging motionless in mid-air just waiting for something edible
to be disturbed. Some individuals (particularly juveniles) may become
quite tolerant of the approach of humans provided that no threat is
perceived. Small mammals, birds and a range of invertebrates like the
grasshopper shown in the ninth photograph are the principal food items
taken by this small raptor. The grey and reddish-brown colours of an adult
male may be seen to best effect in the seventh and eighth photographs and
the first three images are cropped close-ups of the same bird. He had
caught a medium-sized Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus and he was an
expert at catching them. However in doing so he is likely to have ingested
coumarin-based anti-coagulant drugs that had been put down to poison these
rodents and the consequences could have ultimately proven to be fatal for
this lovely bird as well as for the intended targets. Females and
juveniles lack the grey feathers and they are predominantly brown in
colour. Raptors are perceived to be a threat by corvids such as the Eurasian Magpie Pica pica in the tenth
photograph, seen giving fruitless chase to a falcon easily capable of
out-manoeuvring it!
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