Common kestrel

Latin Falco tinnunculus (L.)
Estonian Tuuletallaja

Also known as: European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, Old World kestrel, kestrel

Status in Estonia

Breeding and migratory bird with very few individuals wintering.

Description

The common kestrel is a medium-sized falcon with large wings and a lengthy tail. The wing stem is rather small and the wing tips are slightly blunt when extended. It flutters frequently, with the tail extended like a fan. It has a gliding flight with slower wing beats than other falcons. The back and upper wing coverts are reddish brown, with dark grey wing tips. The male bird’s preen gland area and upper side of the tail are blue-grey with no streaks and the tail has a broad black streak on the edge. The head is grey with narrow stripes, while the back and upper wings are a deep red-brown with black specks. The female bird’s preen gland area and upper half of the tail are brown with short dark stripes and the tail tip streak measures roughly a finger width. The head is mainly brownish and strongly streaked, with the top side being dark ochre-brown, not as deep red-brown as the male and mottled rather than finely striped. The juvenile resembles the female bird, but the top side is a brighter yellowish red-brown, with wider, more ambiguous stripes on the breast.

Size

Body length 31–37 cm, wingspan 68–78 cm, body mass 140–250 g.

Similar species

Eurasian sparrowhawk, red-footed falcon, Eurasian hobby.

Distribution

It is widespread in most of Eurasia and Africa. The distribution area’s northern boundary extends beyond the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia but ends before the Arctic Circle in Eastern Europe and Asia. It is a breeding bird that is unevenly distributed in Estonia.

Population

Estonia has 700–900 breeding pairs.

Occurrence in Estonia

The first individuals arrive at nesting locations towards the end of March, with the majority arriving in April. Spring migration might last until the end of May, while autumn migration begins in July and reaches its peak at the end of September. The last birds depart in late October or November. Individual birds (estimated at up to 10) may also winter here.

Diet

The primary food source includes all types of small mammals as well as smaller perching birds, larger insects and reptiles and, on rare occasions, carrion.

Habitat

It prefers to nest in open agricultural landscapes with alternating groves and on the edges of bigger forests as well as farm trees, particularly in spruce hedges. Nesting boxes, buildings and ruins can all be used as places to nest.

Nesting

It usually nests in a tall pine but sometimes also in a spruce, broad-leaf or stout pine tree. It does not normally build the nest itself; instead, it uses nests abandoned by crows and tree hollows. At the end of April, the female bird lays 3–5 dirty white eggs with a lot of red-brown and yellowish spots. Eggs are incubated by both parents. Chicks hatch in mid-June and are able to fly by the end of June or July. The brood stays together almost until the start of migration.

Conservation status and protection

It belongs to the protected species of category III. Agriculture poses major risk to the common kestrel, which is a cultural and open environment species. On one hand, the species suffers from the loss of open landscapes suited for feeding as a result of pesticide use or over-intensive agriculture. On the other hand, the decline of tillage and the resulting overgrowth diminish the abundance and availability of food sources. Because of its small size, the common kestrel faces various threats from other birds of prey.

Distribution and population in Lääne County

The common kestrel is unevenly distributed in Lääne County’s cultural landscape; however, it remains a relatively common falcon. Nesting birds can be seen hunting for prey in the fields and flood-meadow of Matsalu. Often, they may be seen from the Rannajõe viewing platform. In the autumn in September, migrating common kestrels are frequently seen in Cape Puise.