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Kestrel

 

 

When you roam around in nature during the next few weeks you may meet kestrels passing by on migration in areas near the coast, often alone since the families broke up after the nesting.

 

The Estonian name for kestrel, tuuletallaja, literally means treader of the wind. It may also mean a ”windbag” person, but for the kestrel it is not used in a derogatory sense; it describes a characteristic of the bird: on hunting in open spaces kestrels often go into a standstill or hovering flight mode, with the tail spread out like a fan – treading the wind. The number of nesting kestrels in Estonia was still declining sharply only five years ago. In the 1970s-80s it was the most common falcon species; about a thousand pairs were breeding. Now they are most frequently seen in western, northern and south-eastern Estonia and the numbers seem to be slightly recovering.
 

The birds prefer cultured landscapes, and they are roughly the size of magpies. Old males can be recognized from far off: the tail is longer than that of other kestrels, the back and top side of wings is brick red. Identifying the females and young birds with reddish-brown backs is more difficult.
 

The passing migrants mainly feed on small rodents such as voles. Since kestrels can see light near the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, the hunt for rodents is quite successful.

 

Falcons are highly skilled in air manoeuvres, hitting their victim in lightning fast lunges. The kestrel however hovers above harvested grain fields and simply lets itself fall on to the back of the victim. All larger birds of prey are dangerous for the fast but small kestrel.

 

Kestrel eating mouse