Author Topic: Whoa - that's not something you see every day - a kestrel!!! (Read 3836 times)

prink13 · « **on:** January 10, 2008, 12:26:16 »

Heard a lot of clucking and raucous from the chickens outside, so popped out to check that all was OK, and what do I find in the chicken run, a kestrel with a dead dove in it's claws - definitely not something you see everyday!!!

I've seen the kestrel about in the garden before, he's been chasing the blue tits on the fat balls, and we have about 30 or so doves in the garden, they love the chicken corn, and even go inside the chicken shed to get it, but I guess this one wasn't paying enough attention!!

RosieMcPosie · « **Reply #1 on:** January 10, 2008, 12:33:20 »

wow, brilliant pictures!

debjay · « **Reply #2 on:** January 10, 2008, 12:51:17 »

Nice to see Thanks :D
Debs

prink13 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 10, 2008, 12:53:04 »

Sorry the bottom picture is a bit fuzzy, was trying to lean over the chicken run fence, without disturbing the bird, BTW 40 mins later, it's still sat out there eating the dove!!

lorna · « **Reply #4 on:** January 10, 2008, 21:05:32 »

Wow Great photos Kathi, thanks for sharing. I think I will have to move down your end of town :)

SamLouise · « **Reply #5 on:** January 10, 2008, 21:36:19 »

Love the first pic. He's all like, "What? What? I haven't done anything"

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #6 on:** January 10, 2008, 21:37:31 »

What sort of area is it? Rural kestrels tend to live on small nannals, beetles and worms, while urban birds have traditionally been sparrow-hunters. With fewer sparrows around, it's easy to see them turning to other birds.

We've got resident kestrels on our site; it's technically urban, but there's plenty of wildlife around, and I've watched them taking prey off the ground just like the rural birds. Same on the allotments in Oxford when I was a kid.

prink13 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 10, 2008, 21:59:25 »

Robert - we're kind of on the very edge of a town, but surrounded by country - someone else had suggested it may be a sparrow-hawk or a merlin, evidently merlin's are known for taking pigeons, so that's a possibility.

Whatever he was, he was there tucking into the dove nearly 2 hours later, my stupid chickens were not happy about being shut out of that part of their run, and they kept making a hell of a racket!

Hope someone else can ID him, is my auntie Pauline out there? She's good on bird ID

Kathi

Paulines7 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 10, 2008, 22:57:28 »

A wonderful picture Kathi. I saw it on here an hour ago and since then I have had the bird books out and done extensive searches on the Internet. I can't make up my mind between kestrel and a merlin though I am leaning towards the latter. The females of both these birds have similar markings.

As RB says, kestrels live on insects and small mammals, mainly voles. They have black claws which this one doesn't seem to have. It is so small too but then it could be a juvenile. I have never seen a kestrel chasing birds.

Kathi, merlins are winter visitors to East Anglia and have been seen in your area. You are surrounded by marshlands, a suitable habitat for them. Smaller than kestrels, their main food is pigeons and other birds. They hunt in low flight and are very agile on the wing.

A collared dove is 31-34cm in length, a merlin 26-33cm and a kestral 31- 37cm. Now in the picture it appears that the dove is slightly bigger than the bird of prey so this would point towards it being a merlin...............and that's what I am putting my money on at the moment! ;D ;D

prink13 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 10, 2008, 23:05:03 »

Thanks Pauline, that's what I'm leaning towards as well, he was in the garden about 2 weeks ago, and landed on a fat block that is out for the starlings and tits, I guess he was chasing one of them then - well off to bed to read my bird books, will chat tomorrow

Kathi

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #10 on:** January 11, 2008, 06:51:38 »

It's surely a kestrel with that conspicuously barred back. While ground-living prey is their first choice, they are known to go after small birds when they need to.

prink13 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 11, 2008, 09:35:20 »

Whether Kestrel or Merlin, he's sat out on the telegraph pole out the front at the moment, watching the rabbits in the field opposite.

He's got some cheek, I just don't fancy clearing up his left-overs again today, not very nice!!

Kathi

Paulines7 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 11, 2008, 10:01:26 »

Are you able to get any more pictures of the bird, Kathi?

You will see on this site how similar the merlin and kestrel are and, of course, each individual has different markings.

http://www.birdguides.com/species/species.asp?sp=032040

I have sent your photos to the Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust for identification.

prink13 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 11, 2008, 10:08:47 »

Pauline, I've also sent pics to the Raptor Foundation, just down the road, we go there a fair bit, and they are always very helpful

Kathi

http://www.raptorfoundation.org.uk/contact.html

honeybee · « **Reply #14 on:** January 11, 2008, 10:17:56 »

Wonderful pictures prink.

I was wondering, whether he be a Kestrel or Merlin, what technique would he use to kill his prey? The dove looks larger than him in the picture and I wondered if the kill had maybe been a struggle for him, or maybe he is well practiced by the looks of it ;D

Barnowl · « **Reply #15 on:** January 11, 2008, 14:46:53 »

I thought a Merlin is tiny in comparison to a kestrel?

prink13 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 11, 2008, 14:56:24 »

Had a reply back from the Raptor Foundation, They say it is a female Kestrel

So I'll try and get some more pics of her over the weekend

Paulines7 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 11, 2008, 16:55:59 »

I had a reply from the Wildlife Trust and they have also confirmed that it is a Kestrel.

This is part of their reply:
This is, however, unusual prey for Kestrels, and just shows what they are capable of! Merlins feed much more on birds, though probably wouldn't tackle anything this big! The black claws you mention are a feature of Kestrel as well as Merlin, indeed an identification feature of Lesser Kestrels from Europe are their white claws.
Thanks for sending in the photos, it is always excellent to see a common species doing something unusual!

I then asked whether it was a Lesser Kestrel in view of the colour of its claws. Here is their reply to this question:
Thanks for your message. It is an immature Common Kestrel, sadly not a Lesser! Not sure why a Common would have pale claws or why it was eating a Collared Dove, however, but strange things do happen!

We look forward to more pictures of this little bird in the future. ;D

honeybee · « **Reply #18 on:** January 11, 2008, 18:37:56 »

Thats interesting information isnt it?

I just researched my own question as it has left we wondering, and although I realise the bird kills its prey with its claws, looking at the picture here, it still seems like a big job for the kestrel in question.

greenscrump · « **Reply #19 on:** January 11, 2008, 19:08:10 »

fab pics - what a bright eyed beauty! thanks :)

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Author Topic: Whoa - that's not something you see every day - a kestrel!!! (Read 3836 times)