- Falco dickinsoni
Identification
27-30cm.
- Dark grey plumage
- Pale head and rump
- Grey, narrow black barred tail with broad subterminal band
- Barred underside of flight feathers
- Yellow cere
- Bare yellow eye skin
- Brown iris
- Dark grey bill
Female larger than the male Juvenile
- Grey brown
- Barred flanks
- Green cere and eyering
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa. Southern Tanzania including Pemba, south to northern South Africa and west to southern Angola. Resident.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Low-lying tropical savanna and cultivated land, particularly in floodplains.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes grasshoppers, lizards, amphibians, bats, rodents and snakes.
Breeding
Often nests in a scrape in Borassus palms. The 1-4 cream eggs, have reddish-brown markings and are incubated by the female for 30 days; the young fledge about 33-35 days later.
References
- Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Dickinson's Kestrel. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Dickinson%27s_Kestrel
