Gray Kestrel
Falco ardosiaceus
Medium-sized gray falcon with bright yellow eye-ring and base of the bill. Quite plain, but does show barring on the wings in flight. Found in open woodland and savanna, often in areas with palms. Call is a repeated, vibrating “krrrr.” Similar to Sooty Falcon, but separated by much shorter barred wings and boxy head. Also similar to Dickinson’s Kestrel, but easily distinguished by uniformly gray plumage. Other small falcons do not have gray underparts.
Identification
It is a fairly small, stocky kestrel with a large, flat-topped head and fairly short wings that don't reach past the tip of the tail when at rest. It is 28–33 cm long with a wingspan of 58–72 cm and a weight of up to 300 grams. The female is 4-11% larger and 5-11% heavier than the male. The plumage of the adult is uniformly dark grey apart from darker wingtips, faint dark streaking on the body and slightly barred flight feathers. The feet and cere are yellow and there is bare yellow skin around the eye. The most similar species is the sooty falcon which has a more rounded head, long wings extending past the tail and less yellow around the eye.<p>Juvenile grey kestrels are browner than the adults with a greenish cere and greenish around the eye. Juvenile Dickinson's kestrels are similar but have a barred tail and a more strongly barred underwing.<p>The grey kestrel is generally silent outside the breeding season but has a shrill, chattering call and a rattling whistle.
Taxonomy
Genus: Falco; Family: Falconidae; Order: Falconiformes.
- Scientific name
- Falco ardosiaceus
- Authority
- Vieillot, 1823
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- Falconidae
- Genus
- Falco
Range and habitat
It inhabits savannas, open woodland and forest clearings. It favours areas with palm trees, especially near water. It often perches on exposed branches, telegraph poles and wires.<p>It is widespread in West and Central Africa but is absent from densely forested regions including parts of the Congo Basin. Its range extends east to Ethiopia and western parts of Kenya and Tanzania. In the south it reaches northern parts of Namibia and Zambia and vagrants have appeared in Malawi. The total range covers about 12 million km2. In West Africa there is some movement northward in the wet season and southward in the dry season.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Vanellus melanopterus
Large, long-legged, upland shorebird with a brown back, a white belly, and a dark gray hood. Found in grassland and cultivation; only at high elevations over much of its range. Social; often found in flocks. Call is a high-pitched “chit-chit-chit” followed by a lower “chrrrey.” Very similar to Senegal Lapwing, but slightly larger and shorter-legged, with more white on the forehead, redder legs, and more black on the breast. Easily separated in flight, when Black-winged shows a white bar across the middle of the wing.
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Pityriasis gymnocephala
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Chuuk Monarch
Metabolus rugensis
Medium-sized flycatcher-like bird with a long pointed bill. Male is bright white with a black face and throat. Female is entirely dark overall. Juvenile is rufous above and paler buff below. Endemic to the Chuuk Islands of Micronesia, where it primarily inhabits remnant upland native forest, extensive mangroves, and small forested atolls. Less frequently in degraded lowland forest. Favors areas with a dense understory, where it forages singly or in small groups, moving slowly through the foliage. Sparse and declining as a result of habitat loss. Gives low whistles and a nasal “jeer!”
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