Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Village A. (1983) Seasonal changes in the hunting behaviour of Kestrels. ARDEA 71 (1): 117-124
Seasonal changes in the activity and hunting methods of European Kestrels, Falco tinnunculus, were investigated in upland grassland in south Scotland, 1975-79. The birds changed from mainly perched-hunting in winter to mainly flight-hunting in summer. In autumn 1979, flight-hunting yielded more prey per hour than perched-hunting, both for small and for large prey. Outside the breeding season, the proportion of hunting done on the wing was positively correlated with wind speed, but this was not so in summer, when young were being fed. It is suggested that birds used perches in winter in order to save energy when nutritional demands were low and they could afford the low capture rates of perched-hunting. Kestrels in winter flight-hunted only on windy days when the uplift of the wind made flying easier than on calm days. The greater use of flight-hunting in summer was associated with the increased nutritional demands of breeding. Kestrels seemed to use energy expensive methods (i.e. flight-hunting even at low wind speeds) in order to maximise prey intake when feeding young.


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