Lesser Kestrel
Male (right) and females
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae Genus: Falco Species: F. naumanni
Binomial name
Falco naumanni Fleischer, 1818
Yellow: nesting area Blue: wintering area Dark Green: resident all year

The Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across southern central Asia to China and Bangladesh. It is a summer migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan. It is rare north of its breeding range, and declining in its European range. The scientific name of this bird commemorates the German naturalist Johann Andreas Naumann. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... Scientific classification redirects here. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ... Families Accipitridae Pandionidae Falconidae Sagittariidae The order Falconiformes is a group of about 290 species of birds that include the diurnal birds of prey. ... Genera Daptrius Phalcoboenus Polyborus Milvago Herpetotheres Micrastur Spiziapteryx Polihierax Microhierax Falco The family Falconidae includes about 60 species of diurnal birds of prey, notably the falcons and caracaras. ... For other uses, see Falcon (disambiguation). ... Latin name redirects here. ... Year 1818 (MDCCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Falcon (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... Flock of Barnacle Geese during autumn migration Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Female in flight. Note whitish talons (click to enlarge).

It is a small bird of prey, 27-33 cm in length with a 63-72 cm wingspan. It looks very much like the larger Common 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 black malar stripe, and has grey patches in the wings. Orders Accipitriformes     Cathartidae     Pandionidae     Accipitridae     Sagittariidae Falconiformes     Falconidae A bird of prey or raptor is a bird that hunts its food, especially one that preys on mammals or other birds. ... Binomial name Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus, 1758 The Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey belonging to the falcon family Falconidae. ... There are several meanings for malar: Tamil for flower Latin for cheek Malar (Forgotten Realms), a deity in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons Mälaren, also know as Lake Malar malar rash, a disease sign zygomatic bone, also known as malar bone Category: ...

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 harsh chay-chay-chay, unlike the Common Kestrel's kee-kee-kee. Both sexes do not have dark talons as usual in falcons; those of this species are a peculiar whitish-horn color. This, however, is only conspicuous when seen birds at very close range, e.g. in captivity. Cat claw A claw is a curved pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger or, in arthropods, of the tarsus. ...

Despite its outward similarity, this species appears not to be closely related to the Common Kestrel. In fact, mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis (Groombridge et al. 2002) places it at a basal position with regards to the other "true" kestrels (i.e., excluding the American Kestrel and probably the grey African kestrels too).^[1] Its divergence is tentatively placed to around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary (Messinian to Zanclean, or about 7-3.5 mya). The morphological similarity with the Common Kestrel is most puzzling, but still it appears to betray the present species' actual relationships: the lack of a malar stripe seems ancestral for kestrels, and the grey wing color unites the Lesser Kestrel with most other Falco species, but not the other true kestrels. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is DNA which is not located in the nucleus of the cell but in the mitochondria. ... CoQ Cytochrome c reductase The Coenzyme Q - cytochrome c reductase complex, sometimes called the cytochrome bc1 complex, and at other times Complex III, is the third complex in the electron transfer chain (PDB 1KYO, EC 1. ... part of a DNA sequence A DNA sequence (sometimes genetic sequence) is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA molecule or strand, The possible letters are A, C, G, and T, representing the four nucleotide subunits of a DNA strand (adenine, cytosine, guanine... In phylogenetics, basal members of a group diverged earlier than a subgroup of others (or vice versa). ... Binomial name Falco sparverius Linnaeus, 1758 The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) is a small falcon. ... Binomial name Falco alopex Heuglin, 1861 Conservation status: Endangered Binomial name Falco ardosiaceus Vieillot, 1823 Binomial name Falco dickinsoni Sclater, 1823 Binomial name Falco rupicoloides Smith, 1829 There are four Kestrel species endemic to mainland Africa, and two also found elsewhere. ... The Miocene Epoch is a period of time that extends from about 23. ... The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5. ... The Messinian period is the last part of the Miocene epoch. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... For other uses of mya, see mya (disambiguation). ... The term morphology in biology refers to the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern) of an organism or taxon and its component parts. ... There are several meanings for malar: Tamil for flower Latin for cheek Malar (Forgotten Realms), a deity in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons Mälaren, also know as Lake Malar malar rash, a disease sign zygomatic bone, also known as malar bone Category: ...

The Lesser Kestrel is, as the name implies, a smaller and more delicate bird than the Common Kestrel, and it is entirely sympatric 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-be predators confuse it with the larger species and consequently avoid it, it might be a case of Müllerian mimicry. Sympatry is one of three theoretical models for the phenomenon of speciation. ... This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ... A mimic is any species that has evolved to appear similar to another successful species in order to dupe predators into avoiding the mimic, or dupe prey into approaching the mimic. ...

From John Gould's Birds of Europe

The Lesser Kestrel eats insects, 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. Recent surveys (January 2007) by LPO have revealed that in their wintering grounds, Lesser Kestrels roost communally - sometimes in huge numbers. A roost discovered in Senegal during one of these surveys held 28,600 birds, together with 16,000 African Swallow-tailed Kites Chelictinia riocourii.^[2] John Gould John Gould (14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera (angel insects) Dermaptera (earwigs) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (stick insects) Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Psocoptera... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

It is widespread and plentiful on a global scale, but in many areas of its range, it seems to be undergoing a marked and possibly accelerating decline. The IUCN has thus classed it as a vulnerable species (VU A2bce+3bce). This means that the global population and range have declined by some 30% in the last 10 years, and is expected to continue to do so for at least another decade. Apart from possible habitat destruction, it appears that indiscriminate use of pesticides has a strong effect on this species due to its insectivorous habits.^[3][4] The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. ... Habitat destruction is a process of land use change in which one habitat-type is removed and replaced with another habitat-type. ... A cropduster spreading pesticide. ...

References

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... BirdLife International is the international conservation organization working to protect the world’s birds and their habitats. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External links

• Lesser Kestrel breeding in a village in the south of France
• Identification guide (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta

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Falco naumanni