Species:

Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

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Length (cm):
29-32
26-28
Wingspan (cm):
58-72
47-53
Weight (gram):
90-208
100-180
Size group:
Crow-size
Crow-size
Main Texts:
Appearance:

Easily confused with Kestrel, especially in female and immature plumage. Adult male with clean, grey cheeks, no moustache-stripe and no streaking on crown. Upper wing, greater coverts are grey, contrasting with brick red forewing and back without dark spots. Belly sparsely spotted. Underside of wings paler with less barring than Kestrel, and with more pronounced dark wing tips and trailing edge. This is also more or less visible in females and young birds. Female and young birds has a less stern look than Kestrel, due to more faint facial markings. Mask do not extend behind the eye. Tail slighty shorter than Kestrel, usually with central feathers slightly elongated (rare in Kestrel). Talons pale, not black. Flight light and fast, with shallow wing-beats. Hovers less than Kestrel, but soars on up-winds. Identification of female/immature birds requires a combination of plumage, structural and behavioural (flight action) characters.

Sound:

Contact call diagnostic, and quite different from Kestrel. A di- or trisyllabic "che che che", resembling Partridge in timbre, with two first syllables accentuated. Frequently used in colonies an din flocks. Also a Kestrel-like, plaintive trill "vriiiiii".

Contact call:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Patrik Åberg, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

A small pigeon with barred neck-patch. Coverts and scapulars are dark with orangy-brown edges, giving the back a distinct scaly pattern. Neck and chest pink-grey, and belly white. In flight, the dark tail with contrasting, broad white band, is conspicuous in all plumages. Underside of wings grey, as opposed to Collared Dove. Upperside tri-coloured in black, grey and orangy-brown. Adults differs from Oriental Turtle Dove in having grey hind-neck and broader red-brown edges on coverts. Juveniles are drab, pale buff, and lacks the neck-patch.

Sound:

Song: a deep, rolling, and slightly ascending cooing; "trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr trrr-trrrr" with variations in rhythm. Sometimes birds sticks to a phrase, but phrases varies between individuals.

Song:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Similar species (image):
Similar species (sound):
Silhouette Group:
Raptors
Silhouette
Pigeons
Silhouette
Several different images of the species
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Several different sounds of the species