Editing Common kestrel (section)

=== Breeding ===
[[File:Faucon crécerelle MHNT.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Egg]]
[[File:Turmfalken IMG 2659.jpg|thumb|Young kestrels, not yet able to fly, waiting for food]]
The common kestrel starts breeding in spring (or the start of the [[dry season]] in the [[tropics]]), i.e. April or May in [[temperate]] [[Eurasia]] and some time between August and December in the tropics and southern [[Africa]]. It is a cavity nester, preferring holes in cliffs, trees or buildings; in built-up areas, common kestrels will often nest on buildings, and will reuse the old nests of [[corvid]]s. The diminutive [[subspecies]] ''dacotiae'', the ''sarnicolo'' of the eastern [[Canary Islands]] is peculiar for nesting occasionally in the dried fronds below the top of [[palm tree]]s, apparently coexisting with small [[songbird]]s which also make their home there.<ref name=AlamoTavio1975/> In general, common kestrels will usually tolerate conspecifics nesting nearby, and sometimes a few dozen pairs may be found nesting in a loose colony.<ref name=Orta1994/>

The [[clutch (eggs)|clutch]] is normally 3–7 eggs; more eggs may be laid in total but some will be removed during the laying time. This lasts about 2 days per egg laid. The eggs are abundantly patterned with brown spots, from a wash that tinges the entire surface [[buff (colour)|buff]]ish white to large almost-black blotches. Incubation lasts from 4 weeks to one month, both male and female will take shifts incubating the eggs. After the eggs have hatched, the parents share brooding and hunting duties. Only the female feeds the chicks, by tearing apart prey into manageable chunks. The young fledge after 4–5 weeks. The family stays close together for a few weeks, during which time the young learn how to fend for themselves and hunt prey. The young become sexually mature the next breeding season.<ref name=Orta1994/> Female kestrel chicks with blacker plumage have been found to have bolder personalities, indicating that even in juvenile birds plumage coloration can act as a status signal.<ref>{{cite journal | author1= López-Idiáquez, D. | author2= Fargallo, J.A. | author3= López-Rull , I. | author4= Martínez-Padilla, J. | year=2019 | title=  Plumage coloration and personality in early life: sexual differences in signalling | journal=Ibis| volume=161| pages = 216–221| doi= 10.1111/ibi.12665| issue=1| s2cid= 91263096 | doi-access= free }}</ref>

Data from [[Great Britain|Britain]] shows nesting pairs bringing up about 2–3 chicks on average, though this includes a considerable rate of total brood failures; actually, few pairs that do manage to fledge offspring raise less than 3 or 4. Compared to their siblings, first-hatched chicks have greater survival and recruitment probability, thought to be due to the first-hatched chicks obtaining a higher body condition when in the nest.<ref>{{cite journal |author1= Martínez-Padilla, J. |author2= Vergara, P. | author3= Fargallo, J. A. | year=2017| title = Increased lifetime reproductive success of first-hatched siblings in Common Kestrels ''Falco tinnunculus''. | journal=Ibis| volume=159| pages=803–811| doi=10.1111/ibi.12494| issue=4}}</ref> [[Population cycle]]s of prey, particularly voles, have a considerable influence on breeding success. Most common kestrels die before they reach 2 years of age; mortality up until the first birthday may be as high as 70%. At least females generally breed at one year of age;<ref name=anage2010/> possibly, some males take a year longer to maturity as they do in related species. The biological lifespan to death from [[senescence]] can be 16 years or more, however; one was recorded to have lived almost 24 years.<ref name=anage2010/>

<gallery>
File:Falcon3.jpg|Hatchling of common kestrel (note white [[down (feather)|down]])
File:Falken(loz).jpg|Fledglings in nest cavity
File:Turmfalke P1020197.jpg|Immature after fledging
File:Pst7.jpg|Common kestrel nest
</gallery>