Kestrel

Falco tinnunculus

Kestrel

It seems to me that kestrels are more common at Rannoch than they used to be. They are often to be seen perched on wires near Kinloch Rannoch and at West Tempar. In winter they use perches more often because this requires less energy than hovering. When looking for prey. Their stance is distinctively upright and if the light is good you can see the russet brown plumage of their back. In summer you may well hear the ‘ki ki ki’ call in the vicinity of nest sites.

They are a small graceful falcon with an unequalled ability to hover on their long pointed wings when searching for prey. A country name for them was ‘Windhovers’ which appropriately describes their ability to hover in one spot even in a wind. From this position they scan the ground for voles or mice and when they spot something likely they suddenly drop to a lower position gradually approaching the target. In searching for voles they are helped by the fact that voles leave trails of urine which reflect ultraviolet light and kestrels have the ability to see ultraviolet. Like other birds of prey kestrels have forward facing eyes to to give binocular vision to judge distance.

Kestrels feed most often on small mammals but they also catch birds and bats and will even eat earthworms and have been known to steal food from sparrowhawks and short-eared owls.

Like other birds of prey they expel indigestible portions of their prey in the form of pellets which are regurgitated.

At a great distance buzzards can sometimes be mistaken for kestrels because if the wind is strong a buzzard can hover too but it cannot sustain this in the way that a kestrel can and when seen clearly is much bigger and more clumsy.

(20th December 2019)

Kestrel hovering (Wiki Commons, photo by Artemy Voikhansky)

On the photo it is possible to see the two alulas (otherwise known as bastard wings) which prevent stalling at low speeds. Planes have similar structures but birds got there first.

Creative Commons - credit Artemy Voikhansky