Dickinson's Kestrel ( Falco dickinsoni, family: Falconidae)

dickinsons kestrel kruger national park birds The Dickinson's Kestrel (Latin name Falco dickinsoni) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 185 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 549 also a picture of the Dickinson's Kestrel on page 529. The Dickinson's Kestrel belongs to the family of birds classified as Falconidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Dickinson's Kestrel is also known by these other names: Dickinson's Grey Kestrel.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Dickinson's Kestrel is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Dickinson's Kestrel in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Dickinson's Kestrel : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Dickinson's Kestrel is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Dickinson's Kestrel is about 30 cms and its weight is about 190 gms

The male and female Dickinson's Kestrel have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is white.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is grey.
  • Legs are yellow.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Dickinson's Kestrel feeds on the ground mainly

Reptiles

Smaller animals

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Dickinson's Kestrel is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Falco dickinsoni will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Dickinson's Kestrel is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are in colour and number between 1 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Dickinson's Kestrel are: woodlands and grasslands

You will not see Dickinson's Kestrel in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Dickinsonse Grysvalk

German ... Schwarzrckenfalke

Portuguese ... Falco de Dickinson

French ... Faucon de Dickinson

Dutch ... Dickinson-Torenvalk

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 185

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za