Lesser Kestrel and Kestrel - Spain Sept 2011 (1 Viewer)

I think this one will be fairly straightforward and I think I know it. However, I'd like someone else to confirm it for me if possible. These two pictures were taken down in Donana, in southern Spain. There were loads of Lesser Kestrels and a good few Common Kestrels about. I managed to get a few pictures and wanted to confirm that I have them right. I feel the first one is a female Lesser Kestrel and the second one is a female Common Kestrel. Anyone confirm this? tksB

The second is certainly a 'Common' Kestrel (dark claws!). The first photo is a little blurred so plumage details are hard to discern with confidence, but the wings fall well short of the tail so I'd opt for 'Common' Kestrel for this bird too,

Thanks for that John. Yeah, I was (almost) certain the 2nd one was the Common Kestrel. However, as this was only recently, I can recall a lot of the information and I have a feeling the first one is a Lesser Kestrel. They were both taken on the same day, in fact, the same hour, in the same area. The first one was only taken 2 minutes after I was observing a group of about 15 Lessers and so, was very close by. I noticed from one of my (bad) photos, that at least one of the females (or juveniles?) in the group had wings that fell short of the tail. Do the two Kestrels mix with each other at times?

They're a nightmare.

I'm just back from south-west Spain and as I'm sure John will confirm the two species mix readily. The lessers are moving into the fields of La Janda just now, to add to the local birds. The local birds also include common kestrels.

The lesser kestrels like to perch on the electricity poles and irrigators that abound. So do the common kestrels. You can photograph a bird on one pylon that's a common. the bird on the next is a lesser. Unfortunately the majority of the lessers appear to be immatures and females. Classic males are a rarity and if you can't identify them straight-off it's often a matter of zooming in on the photos you've managed before they flew off to check which colour of nail polish they are wearing. If you get a shot as they fly off, all the better. The primary lengths are a good guide.

Below, a lesser kestrel and a common kestrel (I think ) taken about 200m apart.

Thanks for that Wobbler. Well, I've been living in Spain for the past few years and I am fairly used to seeing both species but not together. As there were so many of both on this particular day and, as you said, most were female or/and juveniles of both species, some of them were impossible to tell (for me) apart.....especially when I hadn't got the chance 'to check which nail polish they were wearing'. However, I still feel the first was a Lesser. The picture is probably not good enough to show it. Sorry about the quality. But maybe it was something more to do with the habit of the bird that makes me feel so.

Cruidín said:

Thanks for that Wobbler. Well, I've been living in Spain for the past few years and I am fairly used to seeing both species but not together. As there were so many of both on this particular day and, as you said, most were female or/and juveniles of both species, some of them were impossible to tell (for me) apart.....especially when I hadn't got the chance 'to check which nail polish they were wearing'. However, I still feel the first was a Lesser. The picture is probably not good enough to show it. Sorry about the quality. But maybe it was something more to do with the habit of the bird that makes me feel so.

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There's a lot you can see in the field that doesn't come through in a photo. It's often quite easy to distinguish them in the field, but try the same bird on a photo a couple of weeks after you've taken it and that's when the trouble starts.

Barred Wobbler said:

There's a lot you can see in the field that doesn't come through in a photo. It's often quite easy to distinguish them in the field, but try the same bird on a photo a couple of weeks after you've taken it and that's when the trouble starts.

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Too true. Maybe that is why I am more convinced she's a Lesser. Maybe it's nothing to do with my bad (sorry!) photo. I think it was possibly the way she readily flew back and forward from the same spot for short distances, the more speedy flight with rapid wing beats, or the way she glided quite elegantly and swiftly after she finally departed. She also didn't hover at all. I am well used to observing Common Kestrels in Ireland (and Spain), but I only started observing Lesser Kestrels about 4 years ago for the first time. I just wish I had got the nails in the photograph. It would have made identification so much easier.|:S|