Banded Kestrel

About the Banded Kestrel

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... Wikipedia →