Image by Kreativlos on Pixabay · Pixabay License
Species
Least Concernvia IUCN
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- falcon
- Mass
- 145
- Image
- Madagascar Kestrel (Falco newtoni) Ambohitantely Reserve.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- taxon rank
- species
- IUCN conservation status
- Least Concern
- taxon name
- Falco newtoni
- Commons category
- Falco newtoni
- taxon common name
- Hitsikitsika
- wingspan
- 56
- litter size
- 4
- egg incubation period
- 28
- CITES Appendix
- Appendix I of CITES
- taxon range
- Africa
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Malagasy kestrel (Falco newtoni), also known as the Madagascar kestrel, Malagasy spotted kestrel, Newton's kestrel, Madagascar spotted kestrel, katiti (Creole) or hitsikitsika (Malagasy), is a small bird of prey of the genus Falco. It is named after British ornithologist Edward Newton. It occurs in two subspecies on Madagascar and at Aldabra. The race from Aldabra is also called Aldabra kestrel (Falco newtoni aldabranus). Its closest living relative is the Seychelles kestrel; they were at one time considered conspecific. Their common ancestors appear to have diverged very recently, probably less than 1 million years ago during the Early or Middle Pleistocene. The Mauritius kestrel is more distantly related (Groombridge et al. 2002).
Description
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Malagasy Kestrel” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.