The Seychelles kestrel (''Falco araeus'') is a small

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predator ...

belonging to the genus '' Falco'' in the falcon family,

Falconidae The falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae (representing all extant species in the order Falconiformes). The family is divided into three subfamilies, Herpetotherinae, which incl ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

Islands where it is the only breeding bird of prey. It is known in

Seychellois Creole Seychellois Creole (), also known as kreol, is the French-based creole language spoken by the Seychelles Creole people of the Seychelles. It shares national language status with English and French (in contrast to Mauritian and Réunion Creo ...

as the katiti after its loud, shrill call.

Description

It is the smallest of the

kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour ...

s, 18–23 cm long with a wingspan of 40–45 cm. The wings are fairly short and rounded. The adult male's upperparts are reddish brown with black spots while the underparts are unspotted and buff. The head and rump are dark blue-grey. The tail is blue-grey with black bars. The bill is dark and the feet and

cere The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, ...

are yellow. Females are similar to the males in appearance but are a little larger and paler. Immature birds have a brown, streaked head, spots on the breast and a buff tip to the tail.

Ecology

It can be seen in forest, scrub and farmland and around rock faces and houses. It rarely hovers, instead feeding by sitting on an exposed perch and waiting for prey to pass, then swooping down to catch it.

Lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...

s, particularly green day geckos ('' Phelsuma'') and skinks (''

Mabuya ''Mabuya'' is a genus of long-tailed skinks restricted to species from various Caribbean islands. They are primarily carnivorous, though many are omnivorous. The genus is viviparous, having a highly evolved placenta that resembles that of euthe ...

''), make up 92% of its diet and it will also take small birds,

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' ( pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandico ...

s and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s. The breeding territory covers just 40 hectares, the smallest of any bird of prey. Breeding occurs from August to October. The

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

site is on a cliff, tree or building. It is a simple scrape with no nest material used. Two or three

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

are laid; they are white with brown markings and are incubated for 28–31 days. The young birds

fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...

after 35–42 days and then remain with their parents for another 14 weeks.

Conservation

The species has a population of about 800 birds and is classified as

vulnerable Vulnerable may refer to: General * Vulnerability * Vulnerability (computing) * Vulnerable adult * Vulnerable species Music Albums * ''Vulnerable'' (Marvin Gaye album), 1997 * ''Vulnerable'' (Tricky album), 2003 * ''Vulnerable'' (The Used album) ...

. Lowland nests have a high failure rate of about 70-80%. It probably bred throughout the granitic central Seychelles in the past but is currently known to breed only on Mahé,

Silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

Praslin Praslin () is the second largest island (38.5 km2) of the Inner Seychelles, lying northeast of Mahé in the Somali Sea. Praslin has a population of around 7,533 people and comprises two administrative districts: Baie Sainte Anne and Gra ...

and some small adjacent islands. It was reintroduced to Praslin in 1977. Threats are thought to include

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

due to logging, housing development and fires as well as predation and competition by

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived the ...

. Rats,

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s and

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himala ...

s have reduced the lizard population on which the kestrels depend and they may take eggs and chicks. Barn owls and common mynas have occupied many suitable nest sites. Persecution by humans is now rare. In the past, kestrels were killed because they were thought to take

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

s and because they were considered to be an

omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...

of death.

References

*BirdLife International (2007
Species factsheet: ''Falco araea''
Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/7/2007. *Barilari, M. 2010. Biologia, conservazione e problemi evolutivi di specie minacciate in ambiente insulare tropicale: il Gheppio delle Seychelles (Falco araea). PhD dissertation, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo". download from: http://www.openthesis.org/documents/Biologia-conservazione-e-problemi-evolutivi-602901.html *Ferguson-Lees, James & Christie, David A. (2001) ''Raptors of the World'', Christopher Helm, London. * Penny, Malcolm (1974) ''The Birds of Seychelles and the Outlying Islands'', Collins, London. *Skerrett, Adrian; Bullock, Ian & Disley, Tony (2001) ''Birds of Seychelles'', Christopher Helm, London.

External links

Nature Seychelles: Seychelles kestrel
{{Taxonbar, from=Q633317 Seychelles kestrel Birds of Seychelles Endemic fauna of Seychelles Birds of prey of Sub-Saharan Africa Seychelles kestrel Seychelles kestrel