Editing Nankeen kestrel (section)

== Taxonomy ==
The nankeen kestrel is a species of the genus ''Falco'', allied to a subgenus ''Tinnunculus''. They were first described by [[Nicholas Vigors]] and [[Thomas Horsfield]] in 1827. Further descriptions — regarded as synonyms for the species — were published: ''Cerchneis immaculata'' Brehm, 1845; the later name ''Cerchneis unicolor'' by [[Alexander Milligan]] was published in ''[[Emu (journal)|Emu]]'' in 1904; and that author's name appearing in the assignment to a subspecies, ''Cerchneis cenchroides milligani'', published by [[Gregory Mathews]] in 1912.<ref name="ALA">{{cite web |title=Falco (Tinnunculus) cenchroides : Nankeen Kestrel |website=Atlas of Living Australia |url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:a1f58df1-828a-4932-a022-fe68c106d5dc#names |access-date=18 October 2018 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

The generic name is [[Late Latin]] ''falco'' 'falcon' (from ''falx'' ''falcis'', 'sickle') and the specific epithet is derived from [[Ancient Greek]] ''kenkhris'' 'kestrel' and ''-oides'' 'resembling'.  <ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling| title=Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird-names|last=Jobling |first=James A. |year=2010 |access-date = 2020-07-14}}</ref>

The common names Mosquito Hawk, Kestrel, Windhover, Hoverer are cited in the [[Australian Faunal Directory]].<ref name="ALA" /><ref name=Pizzey></ref> Its common descriptor refers to the colour of [[nankeen]] cloth, originally a yellowish cotton from Nankeen or Nanking (modern [[Nanjing]]), China.<ref>Oxford English Dictionary</ref> 

This bird is thought to be a very close relative of the [[Eurasian kestrel]] (''Falco tinnunculus''), and probably also the [[spotted kestrel]]  (''Falco moluccensis''). It seems to have evolved from ancestral common kestrels dispersing to the Australian region in the [[Middle Pleistocene]] — less than {{Nowrap|1 million}} years ago — and [[adaptation|adapting]] to local conditions.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Groombridge|first1= Jim J|last2= Jones|first2= Carl G|author-link2= Carl Jones (biologist)|last3= Bayes|first3= Michelle K|last4= van Zyl|first4= Anthony J|last5= Carrillo|first5= José|last6= Nichols|first6= Richard A|last7= Bruford|first7= Michael W|title= A molecular phylogeny of African kestrels with reference to divergence across the Indian Ocean|date=October 2002|journal= [[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]]|volume= 25|issue= 2|pages= 267–277|doi= 10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00254-3|pmid=12414309|bibcode= 2002MolPE..25..267G}}</ref>

Two subspecies are recognised:<ref name=Gill>{{cite report|editor1=Gill, F. |editor2=D. Donsker|year=2020|title=IOC World Bird List (v 10.1)|doi=10.14344/IOC.ML.10.1|url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/ioc-lists/master-list-2/ |access-date=2020-07-14|doi-access=free}}</ref> the nominate subspecies ''Falco cenchroides cenchroides'' is found throughout [[Australia]] and [[Tasmania]], as well as [[Christmas Island]], [[Norfolk Island]], [[Lord Howe Island]], and as a non-breeding visitor to southern [[New Guinea]]; and ''F. c. baru'' Rand, 1940 is found in the [[Snow Mountains]] of west central New Guinea.<ref name=Gill></ref>