Observations of the Australian Kestrel on Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, 1975

Abstract

A four-months study of the Australian Kestrel Falco cenchroides was conducted after they had bred near Armidale, NSW, in 1975. Pairs of adult Kestrels were sedentary and maintained fixed feeding territories but the immatures banded together in loose groups and were nomadic. Density of the local population closely approached that of the American Kestrel F. sparverius in coastal northem California. Chief source of food was an abundant supply of large insects, particularly grasshoppers and crickets. Members of a pair did little foraging together but reestablished contaat periodically throughout the day. Foraging rate of both sexes was essentially uniform through the day. Preening rate however declined in mid-day. Adults roosted in holes in trees, haysheds, barns or on telephone poles, returning to the same site night after night a few minutes after sunset and leaving the roost a few minutes before sunrise each day. Selection of site, as well as the time of roosting, was affected by weather, especially wind and rain. Interaction with other species occurred frequently but the Kestrels usually were on the defensive against the aggressions of Australian Magpies Gymnorhina tibicen and Noisy Miners Manorina rnelanocephala.