Thelesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) is a smallfalcon. Thisspecies breeds from theMediterranean[3] acrossAfghanistan and Central Asia, to China andMongolia. It is a summermigrant, wintering in Africa andPakistan and sometimes even to India and Iraq. It is rare north of its breeding range, and declining in its European range. The genus name derives from Late Latinfalx,falcis, asickle, referencing the claws of the bird,[4] and the species name commemorates the German naturalistJohann Friedrich Naumann.[5]
Female in flight showing whitish talonsLesser kestrels mating
It is a smallbird of prey, 27–33 cm (11–13 in) in length with a 63–72 cm (25–28 in) wingspan. It looks very much like the largercommon kestrel but has proportionally shorter wings and tail. It shares a brown back and barred grey underparts with the larger species. The male has a grey head and tail like male common kestrels, but lacks the dark spotting on the back, the blackmalar stripe, and has grey patches in the wings.
The female and young birds are slightly paler than their relative, but are so similar that call and structure are better guides than plumage. The call is a diagnostic harshchay-chay-chay, unlike the common kestrel'skee-kee-kee. Neither sex has darktalons as is usual in falcons; those of this species are a peculiar whitish-horn color. This, however, is only conspicuous when birds are seen at very close range, e.g. in captivity.
Despite its outward similarity, this species appears not to be closely related to the common kestrel. In fact,mtDNAcytochromebsequence analysis places it at abasal position with regards to the other "true" kestrels (i.e., excluding theAmerican kestrel and probably the greyAfrican kestrels as well).[6] Its divergence is tentatively placed to around theMiocene-Pliocene boundary (Messinian toZanclean, or about 7–3.5mya). Themorphological similarity with the common kestrel is most puzzling, but still it appears to betray the present species' actual relationships: the lack of amalar stripe seems ancestral for kestrels, and the grey wing colour unites the lesser kestrel with most otherFalco species, but not the other true kestrels.
Lesser kestrel – a very rare winter migrant to India
The lesser kestrel is, as the name implies, a smaller and more delicate bird than the common kestrel, and it is entirelysympatric in its breeding range with it; they compete to a limited extent. Thus, the possibility that there is some form of adaptive advantage to the similar coloration deserves study. Considering that the lesser kestrel would in fact have an advantage if some would-bepredators confused it with the larger species and consequently avoided it, it might be a case ofMüllerian mimicry.
The lesser kestrel eatsinsects, but also small birds, reptiles and rodents (especially mice),[7] which are often taken on the ground. It nests colonially on buildings, cliffs, or in tree holes, laying up to 3–6 eggs. No nest structure is built, which is typical for falcons. On their wintering grounds in West Africa, lesser kestrels favor a "latitude belt"[8] through Senegal where locusts and grasshoppers are plentiful. Surveys of lesser kestrels wintering in January 2007 by theLigue pour la Protection des Oiseaux revealed them roosting communally. A roost in Senegal discovered during one of the surveys held 28,600 birds, together with 16,000scissor-tailed kitesChelictinia riocourii.[9]
It is widespread and plentiful on a global scale, and theIUCN have classed it as Least Concern.[1] Apart from possiblehabitat destruction, it appears that indiscriminate use ofpesticides has a strong effect on this species due to its insectivorous habits.[10]
^Groombridge, Jim J.; Jones, Carl; Bayes, Michelle K.; van Zyl, Anthony J.; Carrillo, José; Nichols, Richard A.; Bruford, Michael W. (2002). "A molecular phylogeny of African kestrels with reference to divergence across the Indian Ocean".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.25 (2):267–277.Bibcode:2002MolPE..25..267G.doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00254-3.PMID12414309.
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