- Art Gallery -

Falco zoniventris

Banded kestrel (Falco zoniventris)

Falco zoniventris

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Classis: Aves
Subclassis: Carinatae
Infraclassis: Neornithes
Parvclassis: Neognathae
Ordo: Falconiformes
Familia: Falconidae
Subfamilia: Falconinae
Tribus: Falconini
Genus: Falco
Species: Falco zoniventris

Name

Falco zoniventris W. Peters, 1854

References

* Berichte über dir zum Bekannturachung geeigneten Verhandlungen der Loniglisch Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. (1853) p.783


Vernacular names
Česky: Poštolka proužkovaná
English: Banded Kestrel
Français: Faucon à ventre rayé
Suomi: Raitatuulihaukka
Türkçe: Çizgili kerkenez

The Banded Kestrel (Falco zoniventris) is a bird of prey belonging to the falcon family Falconidae. It is endemic to Madagascar and is also known as the Madagascar Banded Kestrel, Barred Kestrel or Madagascar Barred Kestrel. Its closest relatives are the Grey Kestrel and Dickinson's Kestrel of mainland Africa and the three are sometimes placed in the subgenus Dissodectes.

It is 27–30 cm long with a wingspan of 60–68 cm. The upperparts are grey and the tail is dark. The underparts are whitish with dark grey streaks on the throat and upper breast and dark grey barring on the lower breast and belly. The feet, eyes and cere are yellow and there is bare yellow skin around the eye. Juvenile birds are browner than the adults with darker eyes and less bare skin around the eye.

The species has a shrill, staccato, chattering call and a sharp, screaming call but is usually silent outside the breeding season.

It is fairly common in the southern and western parts of Madagascar but more local in the north and east and absent from the central plateau. It occurs from sea-level up to 2000 metres. It inhabits clearings and edges in forest and woodland.

It rarely hovers, preferring to hunt from a perch. It feeds on small reptiles such as chamaeleons and day geckos, large insects such as grasshoppers and beetles and occasionally on birds. Prey is caught on the ground or snatched from a branch or tree trunk.

Breeding takes place from September to December. The nest is a simple scrape, usually in the old nest of another bird, especially the Sickle-billed Vanga. The nest is located in a tree hole or amongst epiphytic growth. Three yellowish eggs are laid.

References

* Ferguson-Lees, James & Christie, David A. (2001) Raptors of the World, Christopher Helm, London.
* Global Raptor Information Network (2007) Species account: Banded Kestrel Falco zoniventris. Downloaded from http://www.globalraptors.org on 2 Aug. 2007.
* Sinclair, Ian & Langrand, Olivier (1998) Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands, Struik, Cape Town.

Biology Encyclopedia

Birds, Fine Art Prints

Birds Images

Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License