Editing Lesser kestrel

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Speciesbox
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International|year= 2021 |title= ''Falco naumanni'' |page= e.T22696357A205768513 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22696357A205768513.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = Lesser Kestrel (Male).jpg
| image_caption = Male
| image2 = Lesser Kestrel (female).jpg
| image2_caption = Female
| genus = Falco
| species = naumanni
| authority = [[Johann Gottlieb Fleischer|Fleischer]], 1818<ref>{{cite journal|author=Fleischer, G.|url=https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb11038162?page=202,203|journal=Sylvan: Ein Jahrbuch für Forstmänner,Jäger und Jagdfreunde auf das Jahr 1818|year=1818|pages=173–176|title=Zwei neue falken}}</ref>
| range_map = Falco naumanni distribution.png
| range_map_caption = Range of ''F. naumanni'' {{leftlegend|#FFFF00|Breeding range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#32CD32|Year-round range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#0080FF|Wintering range|outline=gray}}
}}

The '''lesser kestrel''' ('''''Falco naumanni''''') is a small [[falcon]]. This [[species]] breeds from the [[Mediterranean]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=MOURAD AMARI, HICHEM AZAFZAF |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/IBAs/AfricaCntryPDFs/Tunisia.pdf |title=Tunisia in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation, Fishpool, L. D. C. and Evans, M. I., eds |publisher=Pisces Publications, Birdlife International |year=2001 |location=Cambridge |pages=961 |language=en}}</ref> across [[Afghanistan]] and Central Asia, to China and [[Mongolia]]. It is a summer [[bird migration|migrant]], wintering in Africa and [[Pakistan]] and sometimes even to India and Iraq. It is rare north of its breeding range, and declining in its European range. The genus name derives from Late Latin ''falx'', ''falcis'', a [[sickle]], referencing the claws of the bird,<ref name=SOED>{{cite book|title=Shorter Oxford English dictionary | year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press|  location=United Kingdom| isbn=978-0199206872| pages=3804}}</ref> and the species name commemorates the German naturalist [[Johann Friedrich Naumann]].<ref name= job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages =[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n266 266]}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:female Lesser Kestrel in flight.jpg|thumb|Female in flight showing whitish talons]]
[[File:Falnau.jpg|thumb|Lesser kestrels mating]]
It is a small [[bird of prey]], {{convert|27|-|33|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length with a {{convert|63|–|72|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan. It looks very much like the larger [[common kestrel]] but has proportionally shorter wings and tail. It shares a brown back and barred grey underparts with the larger species. The male has a grey head and tail like male common kestrels, but lacks the dark spotting on the back, the black [[Cheek|malar]] stripe, and has grey patches in the wings.

The female and young birds are slightly paler than their relative, but are so similar that call and structure are better guides than plumage. The call is a diagnostic harsh ''[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mdWluvoZoGLLGCGo3qCmhKWmEWgQu1Gg chay-chay-chay]'', unlike the common kestrel's ''kee-kee-kee''. Neither sex has dark [[Claw|talon]]s as is usual in falcons; those of this species are a peculiar whitish-horn color. This, however, is only conspicuous when birds are seen at very close range, e.g. in captivity.

==Taxonomy==
Despite its outward similarity, this species appears not to be closely related to the common kestrel. In fact, [[mtDNA]] [[cytochrome b|cytochrome ''b'']] [[DNA sequence|sequence]] analysis places it at a [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] position with regards to the other "true" kestrels (i.e., excluding the [[American kestrel]] and probably the grey [[Kestrel#Description|African kestrels]] as well).<ref name=Groombridge2002/> Its divergence is tentatively placed to around the [[Miocene]]-[[Pliocene]] boundary ([[Messinian]] to [[Zanclean]], or about 7–3.5 [[mya (unit)|mya]]). The [[morphology (biology)|morphological]] similarity with the common kestrel is most puzzling, but still it appears to betray the present species' actual relationships: the lack of a [[Cheek|malar]] stripe seems ancestral for kestrels, and the grey wing colour unites the lesser kestrel with most other ''Falco'' species, but not the other true kestrels.

[[File:Lesser Kestrel.png|thumb|Lesser kestrel&nbsp;– a very rare winter migrant to India]]

==Ecology==
The lesser kestrel is, as the name implies, a smaller and more delicate bird than the common kestrel, and it is entirely [[sympatric]] in its breeding range with it; they compete to a limited extent. Thus, the possibility that there is some form of adaptive advantage to the similar coloration deserves study. Considering that the lesser kestrel would in fact have an advantage if some would-be [[predator]]s confused it with the larger species and consequently avoided it, it might be a case of [[Müllerian mimicry]].

The lesser kestrel eats [[insect]]s, but also small birds, reptiles and rodents (especially mice),<ref name=ADW/> which are often taken on the ground. It nests colonially on buildings, cliffs, or in tree holes, laying up to 3–6 eggs. No nest structure is built, which is typical for falcons. On their wintering grounds in West Africa, lesser kestrels favor a "latitude belt"<ref name=birdsnews/> through Senegal where locusts and grasshoppers are plentiful. Surveys of lesser kestrels wintering in January 2007 by the [[:fr:Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux|Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux]] revealed them roosting communally. A roost in Senegal discovered during one of the surveys held 28,600 birds, together with 16,000 [[scissor-tailed kite]]s ''Chelictinia riocourii''.<ref name=birdlife.news/>

It is widespread and plentiful on a global scale, and the [[IUCN]] have classed it as Least Concern.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> Apart from possible [[habitat destruction]], it appears that indiscriminate use of [[pesticide]]s has a strong effect on this species due to its insectivorous habits.<ref name=birdlife/>
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==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Lesser Kestrel from Fujeirah.jpg|Lesser Kestrel from Fujeirah
File:Falco naumanni MWNH 2023.JPG|Egg, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]]
File:Lesser kestrel.jpg|Lesser kestrel with insect. Notice yellow talons - an easy way to distinguish between lesser and [[common kestrel]]
File:LLesser kestrel chicks and their parent.jpg|Male lesser kestrel feeding chicks
File:Lesser kestrel chicks - 01.jpg|Chicks of the lesser kestrel
File:Falco naumanni, Negev 1.jpg|Male lesser kestrel feeding his chicks with ''[[Laudakia stellio]]'', [[Negev]] desert, Israel
Falco naumanni MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.104.2.jpg| ''Falco naumanni'' - [[MHNT]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=ADW>{{cite web |last=McDonnell |first=K. |year=2000 |title="Falco naumanni" (On-line) |website=animaldiversity.org  |access-date=1 December 2008 |url=http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Falco_naumanni/}}</ref>

<ref name=birdlife>{{cite web |publisher=BirdLife International |year=2015 |title=Species factsheet: Falco naumanni |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22696357 |access-date=14 April 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=birdlife.news>{{cite web |url=http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=992 |title=BirdLife: Surveys Reveal Raptor 'Super-Roost' |date=26 April 2007}}</ref>

<ref name=birdsnews>{{cite web |title=Tracking by satellite solves bird migration riddles |date=17 September 2013 |last=Graham |first=Rex |url=https://birdsnews.com/2013/tracking-satellite-solves-bird-migration-riddles/#.UjvKBD-Jomd}}</ref>

<ref name=Groombridge2002>{{Cite journal |last1=Groombridge |first1=Jim J. |first2=Carl |last2=Jones |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. |year=2002 |title=A molecular phylogeny of African kestrels with reference to divergence across the Indian Ocean |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>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Falco naumanni}}
{{Wikispecies|Falco naumanni}}
* [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/183.pdf Lesser kestrel species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds]
* [http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/130_LesserKestrelFnaumanni.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 3.5 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
* {{Avibase|name=Falco naumanni}}
* {{InternetBirdCollection|lesser-kestrel-falco-naumanni}}
* {{VIREO|Lesser+Kestrel}}
* {{Xeno-canto species|Falco|naumanni|Lesser kestrel}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q229408}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Falco (genus)|lesser kestrel]]
[[Category:Birds of Eurasia]]
[[Category:Messinian first appearances]]
[[Category:Birds of Africa]]
[[Category:Extant Miocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1818|lesser kestrel]]